Kingdom Hearts: Nothing is Sacred
by Chris Talonflight
Summary: SEQUAL TO KINGDOM HEARTS: QUIET OF THE ASCENSION! when Chris's Nobody, called Xsirch pronounced "serk" in inducted into the Organization, thing sbecome very... different.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Xsirch: Organization.

"It's quiet here." The man sitting on the log said, watching the silence of the empty world of nothing. It was a quiet beach, and the waves lapped the eternal evening setting.

"Who are you?" I asked. The man responded quietly.

"I'm what's left." He looked out over the waves. "Or maybe, I'm all there ever was."

"I meant your name." I was impatient.

"A meaningless noise." He looked at me. "What about you? Do you still remember your true name?"

The man got up, and walked past me. However, as he passed by me, he placed his hand on my shoulder for a second and uttered one word.

"Chris."

* * * * * * *

"Let us welcome our fourteenth member. I am honored to announce another of the Keyblade's chosen." I looked down. There, standing where I had stood, was a girl. However, the hood of her coat was down, obscuring her face. "Xion." I looked down to where the newcomer stood. I remembered my initiation six days ago. Was I really that brain-dead...?

…"_I would like to welcome into our midst our thirteenth member, Xsirch, Wielder of Darkness, and the Key of Destiny. Let us feel honor, at having one among us that is chosen by the keyblade." Xemnas intoned all of this from his chair that stood high above all the rest._

_ I pushed back my hood, revealing my black hair and my brown eyes. I couldn't remember ever being here… But then, my entire life was a blur._

_ "Axel," the superior intoned, "For the first few days of his training I am placing him under your mentorship. Please do not disappoint me." He said. Looking around the room, I saw the man that Xemnas had identified as Axel. He had on a bored expression, and was sporting a spiky red hairdo._

_ "Please take your seat, Xsirch." Xemnas motioned towards another tall chair. I teleported into it._

I remembered the feeling of satisfaction as I found a place where I thought I belonged. Later that day, I lay back on my bed. I heard a knock on my door. I walked over and opened it. Saix stood there, holding a small parcel.

"Lord Xemnas told me to give you this." He held it out. "Try to use it every day."

I took the parcel and nodded at Saix. I could talk if I really wanted to, but I wasn't comfortable using my voice yet. Saix seemed to understand this, and left. I opened the parcel. Inside was a diary.

_Why would he give me a diary?_ I wondered. Shrugging, I opened it to page one.

_Saix said to write in it every day, but I don't know what to write_! I chewed on the end of a pencil for a moment, and then I started writing.

_ "__It's been a week since I got here. Saix told me to keep a diary, but he said nobody would check it. What am I supposed to write about? Today they told us to go to the Round Room, Where we met our new member, No. XIV. Was I like that when I first got here? I think I was. But I don't remember too well. __I don't know what to write in this thing!" _I put down my diary and lay down to sleep.

* * * *

I woke up the next day still tired. Disregarding my feelings, however, was the alarm clock. I woke up, and turned it off. I then got up, showered, and entered the Gray Area, a room that served as a hub. Scattered around the room were various members of the Organization. Standing off alone was Saix.

"Slept all right?" the man who I remembered as Axel stood there. I nodded.

"For the next few days, I will get you started on your training. When you are ready to go, speak with Saix."Axel went to the edge of the Gray Area and sat on a lounge couch, drinking coffee.

I went over to Saix. He called Axel over. "Today, Axel will teach you the point of your general mission." Saix opened a dark portal, and Axel ushered me through.

"This is Twilight Town." Axel gestured to the buildings around us. "Today I'm gonna teach you your main mission. Can you summon your keyblade for me?" I nodded and summoned my weapon. That was one thing that I remembered how to do. My keyblade looked like a pair of wings furling around a central beam of thorns, and I could feel that it contained some type of power.

"Your keyblade has this power." Axel explained. "It is used for taking out heartless. Heartless are the hearts of people that have been taken over by darkness."

"Why?" I asked. It was the first time I had used my voice.

"For every heartless you destroy, you release its heart. Every heart that you liberate with your keyblade will go to Kingdom Hearts. And once enough hearts have been attained, we will each get hearts of our own."

"Don't… Don't we have hearts?" I wondered.

"Unfortunately… false." he shook his head. "We are Nobodies. We have none! Anyway," he pointed to a small black creature that had appeared a little way away, "That is a heartless. That specific breed of heartless is known as a Pureblood. Purebloods are not made in the way that the rest of the heartless are made, but are merely extensions of the darkness. Generally, you shouldn't bother with them, but they do make good practice." He summoned a chakram. "Why don't you try out your combat skills on these Purebloods?"

I summoned my keyblade, and ran at them. Somehow, it was as if a combat system was wired into my brain. As long as I was holding my keyblade, I had skill at fighting.

"Well, you're shaping up finely!" Axel noted. "Usually, your mission will be to collect hearts, although occasionally you will get a more specified mission. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah." I nodded. I felt comfortable talking to him.

"So now we can go home. I need a nap." Axel opened a dark portal. "It's important not to overwork yourself in these first few days. You're only just getting used to life as a nobody."

"Okay." Somehow, my response made Axel stop.

"Don't you want to _do _anything while we're outside?"

"Such as?" I asked.

"The castle is _boring,_ man!" he laughed. "The only fun times are when someone has a party. Me, I like to go get a little icing on the cake after a successful mission."

"Huh?" was my clever response.

"Just come on." He pulled me away. Minutes later, we were sitting atop the big clock tower in Twilight Town. Axel pulled out two sticks of ice cream.

"Here" He tossed one to me. "Eat."

"What flavor is it?" I asked nervously. Somehow, the blue color made me think twice about eating it.

"Sea salt ice cream!" he said with obvious enthusiasm. I took a bite. It was salty… yet sweet. And somehow, the odd combination tasted _good._

Later that day I lay in my bed, thinking. There were sounds of music coming from nearby. Demyx had his room right next to mine. That music…. It sounded… familiar. Disregarding it for the moment, I grabbed my diary.

_"__Axel and I went to Twilight Town today. He taught me a lot. Before we RTC'd (Returned To the Castle) we swung by the clock tower and had some sea-salt ice cream. Axel called it the "Icing on the cake" after a successful mission. Well, except there was no cake- just the ice cream." _Someone knocked on my door. I turned around. It was Demyx.

"Hey man, can I hide here?" he seemed out of breath and terrified. "Larxene is trying to kill me!" I nodded, and Demyx dived under my bed.

Larxene ran in moments later. "Hey, did you see which way that watery creep went?!" she demanded. I pointed down the hallway away from my room. Larxene ran off.

_You could have said thank you._ I muttered. I returned to my room and evicted Demyx.

"Thanks, man!" Demyx said cheerfully. Then he ran out to his room. "I'll be sure to invite you to my next party!"

_Axel said that some members have parties… What's a party?_ I wondered. Shrugging off my questions for the moment, I lay down and slept.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Xsirch: Missions

Days passed. The organization members showed me how to fight. Each day seemed to repeat itself. However, I liked my life. Axel and I were friends. Perhaps the best way to recap on these days was to read over my diary entries.

_Day 9: The past few days, the other members have been showing me how to fight and do mission stuff. They also told me more about the Organization, and about myself. I still don't really get what a "heart" is. But apparently, it's a vital piece of who I am- so I've decided to cooperate. If I collect enough hearts, I can complete Kingdom Hearts. Then I'll be whole._

_Day 14: I and Axel went on a mission to Twilight Town. Afterwards, we went and had ice cream again up on the clock tower. He said friends do stuff like that. Or they laugh together. So does that mean me and him are friends?_

_Day 15: The other members have been teaching me more about how to fight and stuff. It's going, I guess. Everyday after work, I've been meeting Axel at the clock tower to have sea-salt ice cream. It really is salty! But still sweet, too. How come it tastes so familiar?_

It had been six days since I had written the latest entry. It was my 21st day. I got up, stretched, and walked into the gray area. I snatched a cup of coffee and a butter roll with ham and sat down at a couch to eat breakfast.

"Xsirch." A voice called, mispronouncing my name. _Why can't they understand that it's pronounced "serk", not "zirch"?_ "Can I interest you in a game of cards?" it was Luxord. Later, I would learn never to play cards against him, but this was the first time I had spoken with him, so I sat down. He dealt me a few cards, and we began playing. I lost terribly. Luxord snorted, and kicked me out, saying that I had no talent. I went up to Saix, and asked for my mission.

"Ahh, Xsirch." Saix seemed especially cheerful. "I have a mission for you. You are to collect the emblems of our organization that one of us has spread around Twilight Town in the allotted time."

"Why do I have to do that? Shouldn't I just kill heartless?"

"This is a test that determines your speed and searching skills." Saix explained. "When you take this test, we combine it with your other test results to determine your quota of heartless. Once you collect them all, come back here, and I can send you on a shopping trip."

"Shopping?" I asked, incredulous. Saix nodded.

"We have to feed our members, don't we? Where do you think the food for your breakfast and dinner comes from, not to mention the lunch money we give you?"

"Doesn't shopping _spend_ money, not earn it? What do you do, print your own money?" I asked. Saix started, realizing that he had let slide a piece of information he wasn't supposed to tell. He fidgeted in silence for a second, then handed me my lunch money.

"Whatever. I'll be back." I left through the portal.

So I was on a solo mission today, going through Twilight Town. I was mowing down Heartless, but my objective today was to catch and grab the small disc-shaped Organization emblems around the Tram Common area. Some time later, I jumped up onto some square steps, and successfully jumped on top of a building to grab the next one. Looking over the area, I saw another emblem over in the tram yard. I ran as fast as I could there, using a few blasts of darkness to mow down the small Heartless that occasionally popped up in front of me. Soon enough, I grabbed the last Emblem, and sat down, sighing heavily.

"Phew…Mission…Complete…" I sighed. I got up again and began heading back to the dark portal hidden in an out-of-the-way location. I went past the square steps I had just jumped upon and went into an almost-enclosed location. When I was about to step inside the dark portal, however, I stepped on something that crunched loudly. I looked down and saw a piece of paper. I picked it up to see what it was. Unfolding the paper, I sighed and tossed it aside when I realized it was only an advertisement for Sea Salt Ice Cream. I stood there, then I tossed the emblems through the portal without bothering to walk through. Saix walked through, handed me the shopping list, and departed silently. I shut the dark portal and turned around. A couple minutes later, I was sitting on a ledge on the clock tower, eating a blue bar of ice cream. I sighed.

"…what am I doing?" I wondered. Axel wouldn't be here until a lot later. I put my hand down to have myself lean against the concrete when I slipped. I fell over on my side, ending up lying on the concrete of the ledge. I was getting back up when I noticed it. Under the ledge was a small slit, and in the slit was a piece of paper. I pulled out the piece of paper, but first I quickly inhaled the ice cream bar I was eating. Unfolding the paper, I was surprised to see what looked like an essay:

"_I believe that I have reached a conclusion with my research on the Heartless. They are beings that are created off of the negative elements of the heart. When a person's heart becomes completely filled with evil, their heart is overcome, and they turn. The heartless may take many forms, including forms of animals, Purebloods, walking dead, and even human. I believe that there are two kinds of darkness: one is the foul brooding force that is responsible for creating heartless and evil; the other force is one that is found naturally as light, and is merely an anti-light. It is the first of these powers that intrigues my apprentice. I certainly hope that his experiments aren't to drastic in the future._

_As for the form left behind when a heartless forms, I intend to begin researching in that direction next. Perhaps there is a cure for the heartless condition after all._

_-Ansem the Wise, Report Number 13, concluding the heartless research."_

_An report written by some guy named Ansem the Wise._ I re-read the passage. It was slightly interesting. I tucked it quickly into my coat, and left to get to the supermarket. I had plenty of things to buy.

***

Later, I opened my diary.

_"I was out collecting emblems today. It was my first time out alone. While I was out there, I found a report by a guy named Ansem. Who was he? He seemed to be a scientist who studied heartless. HE mentioned that he would be studying the form left over once the heartless had formed. Could he be referring to us nobodies? I wonder if I will find any more of these Ansem Reports."_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Xsirch: Party Time

"Hey Xsirch!" I sat up. Demyx had invaded my room yet again. "I'm having a party today! You want to come?"

"What's a party?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, your new…" he scratched his head. "a party is where you meet with a whole lot of people and you talk and eat and play games."

"And when will we have the party?" I asked.

"Today after we finish our missions. Its gonna be in Marluxia's room. By the way, would you mind helping Luxord with the shopping for it? I was going to send Lexaeus since he could carry it all, but Lexaeus is on a longer mission today."

"Sure." I nodded. "Is Axel going to go?"

"Yeah, I think. Also, Marluxia, Luxord, Larxene, Zexion, and possibly Xaldin."

"Okay."

When I finished my heart collecting mission, I made a beeline for the clock tower to meet up with Axel. I wanted to know about this party stuff.

"So, you actually got here!" Axel was already sitting there, eating ice cream.

"Hey Axel." I nodded, and sat down.

"Demyx is having a party tonight. Are you gonna go?" he asked.

"Yeah, he already invited me. I have to help Luxord out with the shopping. Why Luxord? He already doesn't like me because I suck at cards."

"Luxord has the most money, because he gets it from gambling." Axel explained. "So that means he's paying for most of the food."

"Oh." I looked out at the sunset.

"It's too bad we won't be able to do this for a while." Axel sighed. "You see, I've just been transferred."

"What?!" I said, astonished.

"Yeah. Technically, I'm not supposed to tell you yet, but we're friends, so I'll tell you anyway. I'm being sent to Castle Oblivion, the Organization's other fortress."

"Why?" I asked. I didn't want my friend to leave.

"Something to do with one of the keyblade masters." He shrugged. Then he got serious, and spoke in a lower tone of voice. "Also, Xemnas doesn't entirely trust some of the other members. Particularly Marly and Larx."

"You mean Marluxia and Larxene?" I asked. "Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions." He laughed slightly.

"I want to know things." I answered.

"Shouldn't you go and help Luxord by now?" I looked at my watch.

"Crap!" I yelled. "See you later!"

I managed to get to Luxord in time, still eating my ice cream, and we got the food for the party. However, on the way back I heard something strange. Luxord had gone ahead, and I was alone with my bag of food.

"Honestly, Xaldin, must you insist on this madness?" I heard Saix say. I then heard a loud CRASH.I quickly teleported to Marluxia's room where the party was beginning.

Saix then fell, screaming, past the outside window of Marluxia's room. No one else noticed, as Marluxia and Larxene were killing noobs like crazy on Call of Duty, a game which to me looked way too familiar... Both of them racked up 20 kills in nearly 10 seconds with their combined skill. I merely sat back, watching. When the game online was complete, Axel, Zexion, and Xigbar knocked on the door.

"Who brought the alcohol?" Larxene laughed as she took the drinks and placed them on the table. Larxene pulled out a large stack of plastic cups, and Axel put down the pizzas on a table.

"A perfect going off party!" Axel hooted. Within minutes, Marluxia, Axel, and I had somehow gotten control over the available controllers, with Larxene and Xigbar chatting away over pizza. Zexion stood to the side, eating.

"So, then, Xaldin all got up in my face about it, but Mr. Unsmiley got cut when he messed with this!" Larxene chuckled, striking a pose as she did so. Xigbar just huffed.

"They aren't all bad, although some of them ARE annoying." Xigbar sighed. Larxene just waved her hand in the air.

"That's Vexen's bunch for ya," Larxene laughed. "All of them stuck-ups who probably haven't gotten a date. Well, maybe except for Zexion, but who knows how many chicks his hair brings in?"

"Well, it IS kind of dreamy..." Xigbar muttered.

"Oh, you like that don't you?" Larxene laughed. "Man, Xemnas will be ma-ad..."

"Hey, be quiet!" Xigbar shouted. "I'm straight!"

"Yeah, be quiet! I'm kicking ass here!" Marluxia shouted, and he lost his 13 kill-streak from me throwing a knife at his character. At that moment, Luxord and Demyx walked in. As soon as he saw the mini-party, Luxord's eyes lit up.

"Ahh, a party. The chips are on my side today!" Luxord laughed, before inviting himself in and playing cards with Zexion, gambling for the last piece of pepperoni pizza. Demyx just sat over on Marluxia's flower-themed bedspread and began lightly strumming his sitar. This prompted Larxene to physically beat the life out of him for annoying her by existing. Xemnas even made an appearance, leaning against the doorframe, watching the party.

Lexaeus soon walked in, angry. "Lord Xemnas, why did Saix fall from the sky and land on my head during my training exercises?" Lexaeus growled. Saix lay atop Lexaeus's head, twitching because apparently his back was broken and he couldn't move. Xemnas just sighed.

"Don't get so overworked, Lexaeus," Xemnas sighed. Lexaeus just angrily stared, before walking out of the room past Vexen. Vexen also walked into Marluxia's room, angry.

"Marluxia! So it WAS you who absconded with my soft drinks!" Vexen growled.

"Nah, that was Axel," Marluxia hastily countered, since he was busy sniping several people over Call of Duty.

"Whatever," Axel shrugged, as he was busy gunning down a person who had knifed him earlier in the game, aka me. I preferred to just use a knife, and not bother using a gun unless I really wanted to.

"I don't believe this!" Vexen shouted. "Superior, aren't you going to discipline these rapscallions!?"

"...fine," Xemnas sighed, realizing that there would be no peace from Vexen unless he did. "Everyone. You are ordered to stop playing Call of Duty."

"HA! It appears I have bested you once again, Number XI!" Vexen laughed, as he left the room, smug. Whenever Xemnas was assured he was gone, he smiled.

"I order you all to play Halo 3. FIRST!" Xemnas smiled evilly.

"SECOND!" Xigbar called.

"THIRD!" Larxene shouted.

"FOURTH!" Marluxia, Axel, and I all said at once. All three of us got into a fistfight over the fourth controller, which gave Demyx the opportunity to take said fourth controller and play Halo 3 alongside the Superior, the Savage Nymph, and the Freeshooter. I found Xemnas interesting. He maintained an aloof, cold manner at most times, but at rare moments he could act exactly like a father to us. His extremely rare moments of joining into fun, such as now, were such a mystery that I wondered about him.

After the first round of Halo 3, the Superior handed me the controller, and started to leave the room. However, before leaving, he espied the paper that I had picked up earlier. He frowned, and picked it up. He read it, and his face remained blank. He noticed me watching him, and spoke.

"Where did you get this, number thirteen?"

"I… I found it in Tram Common, sir." I said, nervously. Xemnas nodded.

"I see…" he pocketed the note, and walked out of the room.

*****

Later, I went into my room, and wrote in my diary.

"_Day 22, Entry 6: Axel is going to some place called Castle Oblivion. He told me because we're friends. After I went shopping, I went to a party at Marluxia's room. It was fun. However, the Superior noticed a piece of paper that I picked up, and he didn't seem too happy about it. Was it something he had dropped? I noticed the word WINNER on my ice cream stick while on the way to meet Luxord, but I forgot to ask Axel about it at the party. I wonder what I won... I'll ask him when I see him tomorrow before he leaves."_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Xsirch: XIV

"Axel!" I ran into the Gray area. "Has anyone seen Axel?"

Xigbar and Demyx were discussing Larxene being a total witch. Xigbar, however, turned to me with what seemed to be an apologetic look.

"Sorry, kiddie, but Axel left before you got here. What's up?"

"Nothing." I walked away, and grabbed a bowl of cereal. I was disappointed that I hadn't gotten a chance to ask him about my winner stick.

I looked at the cereal. There was a new brand there, taken from some world called Reality. Supposedly, they used something called "dollars" instead of normal Munny. Weird. But the cereal tasted good. It was called Honey Nut Cheerios. _What's a Cheerio?_

"Xsirch." Saix walked up to me. "Today I am partnering you up with number XIV, Xion. Report to me when you have finished eating. The mission I will assign you requires no delay."

"Sure." Saix had always made me feel nervous. I realized that it was because I had never seen him smile, or show any type of emotion. Maybe that was because we didn't have hearts, but still, even Xaldin, Lexaeus and Xemnas smiled once in a while! Well, maybe not Lexaeus…

I looked at Xion. Her hood was up, obscuring her face, and she stood silently near Saix.

When I had finished eating, Saix handed me my mission to Twilight Town. So far, most of my missions had been in that area. I wondered when I would get a mission to another world.

"So, you're Xion, right?" I asked my partner. Xion merely nodded slightly, saying nothing.

Saix opened the portal for us, and we went through. We emerged in Twilight Town.

I looked at our mission card. _ So… we have to find a certain group of Deserter Heartless and destroy them… well, we'd better get this one finished!_

"Let's get going." I summoned my keyblade. Xion, her face still hidden by her hood, said nothing. I sighed. _I wonder if she's mute. Honestly, even Saix and Lexaeus are more talkative then this girl!_

We ran through the streets. There weren't many heartless. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a large black Novashadow ran up, bowling me over, and headed straight for Xion. Xion dodged back. I regained my footing, and tried to slice at the Novashadow. The quick heartless nimbly dodged away, before smacking me across the plaza. When I landed, my keyblade was twitching, as if the two bat wings that made up the main portion of the blade were trying to flap free and escape into the blue sky. Suddenly, they separated completely.

_Oh no! What happened?_ I stood up. In either of my hands was a single bat-wing sword.

The Novashadow lunged for me. I quickly deflected it with my left hand weapon, and impaled it with the right hand sword. The Novashadow yelled in pain, before running away into the shadows.

_Oh man, I've gotta find a way to get my keyblade back! There's nothing wrong with these swords, but if I don't have the keyblade, I can't finish Kingdom Hearts!_ I frantically dismissed the two weapons. I then tried to summon my keyblade. Instead of my dark keyblade, however, one of the bat-wing swords appeared. Xion looked at me expectantly.

_NO… I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN! I NEED THAT KEYBLADE!_

With that mental roar, the bat wing sword disappeared, and my keyblade, Last Chaos, appeared in my hands.

_Whew… I don't know what that was, but I hope that doesn't happen again._

The rest of the mission passed uneventfully. We finally found the group of Deserters, and I easily eliminated them. I had noticed that Xion had no weapon, and I had told her to stay back. However, in response to this, she merely shook her head, and had accompanied me into the fray. She had no weapon, but she could still cast Fire spells and Blizzara spells, as well as cast a cure spell on me when I got injured once. She was all right as a support unit, but I really wished that she had some weapons.

After we had completed our mission, we wound our way to an out of the way area. I summoned a dark portal to the Castle That Never Was. We were about to enter, but then I remembered something.

"You go ahead to the Castle." I told Xion. "There's somewhere I need to be." Xion nodded silently, and left. A moment later, I had bought a bar of ice cream and was on top of the clock tower, eating. Axel never came. Duh. He was in Castle Oblivion.

I arrived late at the Grey Area.

"Hey Xsirch!" Vexen called. "Can you retrieve my silver flask from my basement lab?" Vexen asked. "I must get it before I depart to catch up with the other members of the Castle Oblivion team."

"Sure." I shrugged. When I arrived at Vexen's chilly basement lab, I say, curiously, a diary. My curiosity got the better of me, and I opened it to the last page with writing.

"_Research Entry 326: The Program is largely on target. No. i, my finest Replica, has proven a greater success than I anticipated. I intend to take the other vessel- judged unfit for number status- to Castle Oblivion, where I will subject it to further testing. One thing is clear: could these Replicas not be classified as a special sort of Nobody?"_

Vexen was a freaky old guy. I had no idea what his diary entry meant. I retrieved his flask, and went to my room. I sat on my bed, writing in my diary.

_"Axel left before I woke up this morning. I never got to ask him about the ice cream stick. I was partnered up with No. XIV for today's mission. My keyblade acted up, but I managed to get it back to normal. Xion wore a hood the whole time and wouldn't say a word to me. Come to think of it, I didn't have a whole lot to say, either. Afterwards I went and had ice cream by myself."_

The next morning, I got up groggily. I felt as if I had gotten slammed in the head by a hammer. After doing a few exercises in my room, I summoned my weapon. However, I had a different idea in mind.

Sure enough, it wasn't my keyblade that I had summoned.

In my hands was the pair of bat-winged swords.

After a good while of experimentation, I managed to figure out the strategy of combining my swords into the keyblade. It took concentration, but I was confident that I could do it.

Today I was partnered up with Xion, number XIV, again. This time, we were to hunt down a particularly fierce Novashadow that had been sighted by Demyx in Tram Common. Yippee…

_I wish Axel was here. I prefer to go into battle with someone who actually has a WEAPON! _I thought as I entered Traverse Town.

"Come on." I sighed. "Let's do this."

"…Mmhm …" Xion sighed affirmatively.

_……?_

"Hey you talked!" I said, unable to keep from smiling. Xion merely stared at me from under her hood. I shrugged and walked towards the area where our target waited.

_Maybe that came out antagonistically? Heck, is "antagonistically" even a word? Whatever… I hope she doesn't get mad for no reason._

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I ducked instinctively. As I came back up, I was eye to eye with my old friend: the Novashadow. Our target.

A Fira spell hurled it backwards into a wall. Xion took up a battle stance next to me. She unleashed a Thundaga spell, attacking the Heartless. The Novashadow leapt back, hissing. I summoned my keyblade.

"So we meet again." I muttered. The Novashadow stared at me. I stared right back at it.

I charged. The Novashadow spun and lashed out at me with its claws. I ducked the attack. Xion launched her assault in a group of Fira spells. The Novashadow was blown back. I ran in, swinging my keyblade in powerful strokes.

"WHY-" SMASH. "-WON'T-" SMASH. "-YOU-" SMASH. "-DIE!"I roared, breaking nearby jars, and leaving slash-marks on the walls as the Novashadow evaded my attacks.

I felt something ignite inside me. I threw out my hand, and a wave of pure, cold blackness blasted from my outstretched fingertips. As I watched, the blast took on the shape of a meteor with dark flames racing along its length.

_What the ****? It's like a Firaga, but its as if its been infused with darkness! And I thought that I couldn't use magic! Hah! That'll teach Zexion to stop saying "Apply yourself" whenever he tries to teach me to use it! GO: DARK FIRAGA!_

The bolt slammed through the chest of the Novashadow. The heartless let out a terrible scream, before collapsing. It was barely clinging to its existence. I raised my keyblade, and ended it's misery.

"Well, that's that." I said. Honestly, I was getting annoyed at Xion's lack of response. My hopes had risen after she had spoken earlier, but they had been decreasing progressively afterwards. I looked at my partner.

I immediately felt bad for her. She was probably shy, and I knew that I hadn't had much use with my talking skills until quite a few missions.

"You go ahead to the castle and relax." I told her. "I have to be somewhere again." Xion nodded. "See you tomorrow!" I waved, starting off in the direction of the clock tower.

"Xir… ch…"

I froze. Xion smiled and waved slightly, then left into the dark portal.

Later that day, I wrote in my diary.

_"I fixed the keyblade problem. I teamed up with No. XIV again today, we finally talked a little- Xion even said my name for the first time. I think it's her first word. Afterwards I had an ice cream by myself again. The lady at the shop said you can trade the WINNER stick for an extra bar. But I can't eat more than one."_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Zexion_: _Castle Oblivion

"Well, what is it this time, Vexen?" I asked impatiently. "This had better be good."

"Ahh, Zexion!" the gold haired-green-eyed old-man Nobody grinned. He was wearing the black coat that was donned by all of the Organization, and was sitting at a computer screen. "We have a situation. It seems that not only has Marluxia successfully led the keyblade wielder here, but we have a situation with the intruders."

"What is it?" I asked impatiently again.

"Those three intruders that we captured," his eyes glowed, "They are most unique. In fact, one of them is a replica that was built right here in this very castle."

"I see." I said dryly. "And what is it that you propose?"

"I cannot propose anything!" he threw up his hands in frustration. "The replica is obviously a replica, so there would be no point in replicating the replica. As for the other two, one of them is encoded as a card, and thus he is untouchable. The last one is one that captures my attention, though."

"And what is it that captures your attention, Vexen?" I really didn't want to know, but there was no point, since he would tell me anyway.

"He is a product of millennia of genetic engineering!" he proclaimed. "Thousands of famous, infamous, and unknown heroes and villains make up his genetics! In, fact, I would go so far as to say that he is the end result of all Heroes! And as for Marluxia, he is worried that…"

"And?" I asked, still tired.

"…We are unsure whether the one he lured here is the keyblade _master,_ or merely a keyblade _wielder._"

I snorted. "You woke me up from my nap for that? I'm going back to bed." I turned, but not before I heard Vexen's next bright idea.

"I wonder how long it will take me to loose _his _replica upon the intruders..." Vexen giggled evilly. I groaned, and walked back to my sleeping quarters. Before sleeping, I opened my diary.

_ "__Marluxia has succeeded in leading the Keyblade master to the castle. I sense multiple threads at work, but details on the projects are scarce. I suspect some alleged Organization projects are secretly private machinations. Marluxia seems especially suspect. He continues to annoy me about replicas. I wish only to do my own work, and not be meddled with by others."_

_I really don't like that mad scientist!_ I thought as I lay down, and slept.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Xsirch: Graves

I woke up with a start. I didn't know what had happened. I had suddenly snapped awake with such a sense of apprehension that I couldn't place it.

_Dang… I hate waking in the middle of the night._ Realizing that further sleep would be impossible, I donned my cloak and went out into the Grey Area.

I had always wanted to explore the castle. This was the perfect time.

I walked up a pathway. Here the path diverged. One way there was a sign saying that it led to the Hall of Empty Melodies. The way straight in front said that it led to Twilight's View.

After half an hour, I had made it through The Hall of Empty Melodies, Twilight's View, Crooked Ascension, Nothing's Call, and The Room Where Nothing Gathers. Here I was, standing in a room that looked like a graveyard. There was yet another passage at the opposite end of the passage. The sign there said: Ruin and Creations Passage.

I looked around the graveyard room. It was white, like the rest of the castle, but around the room were… _graves._ There were glowing ethereal tombstones over each, each with a symbol on each that looked like each of the weapons of an organization member! Here on a tombstone was Axel's Chakram. On another was Marluxia's scythe. I went through them all, then stopped.

There were only twelve graves here. There were fourteen members.

I found my own grave, and sat in front of it. I stared into it's ethereal depths.

_You have come at last._

I started at the voice.

"Who are you?" I asked.

_I am a remnant. I am part of who you were._

"Who was I?" I asked.

_If you let me, I will take you to your place._

"My place?" I asked.

_Come._

A bright light shone out of the ethereal tombstone. Suddenly-


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:_ Xsirch: _Real or Not?

**(Cue song "Fragments of Sorrow" from the Kingdom Hearts original soundtrack)**

I seemed to be standing in the exact center of a large circular platform, with a symbol of a heart on it, with a picture of a girl and three boys in one corner, and behind them several people. In the other corner was a picture of Me, Axel, and Xion, with the rest of the Organization behind us. All of this was on a black background. The tiles making up the pictures seemed to be stained glass, and there was light shining through them, as well as a light far above that cast my shadow.

"Only your essence is here now." A form of mixed darkness and light hovered just beyond the platform edge. "You are without any powers of darkness and light, without any power or weapon you might have. This is your Station of Awakening!"

Around me hovered a sword, a mage's staff, and a knight's shield.

_Choose your item! _The voice told me.

I automatically gripped the sword. I knew very little magic, and the shield would be useless.

_Ahh, you are a warrior! You do not deceive yourself about what you are._

Then the other weapons disappeared, and a small stairway appeared, leading up. I ran up it. I reached an identical platform, but instead of the previous black background, there was a dark green background.

Here, a book, a whip, and a pair of glasses appeared. I picked up the book.

_You wish to see the story of life, and want only for a happy ending for all. That is true._

Another stairwell appeared, and I climbed again, until I arrived at the next, blue platform. A statue of each of the members of the organization appeared. I laid a hand on Axel's statue.

_You know who your friends are. I wonder…_

Another stair appeared, and I climbed yet again. The next platform was blood red. On it were a floating Heartless symbol , a floating Nobody symbol, and a floating Heart symbol. They spun in a blindingly fast circle.

_Test your determination._

I reached out. I grabbed, hoping it was the Heart. However, I had grabbed the heartless symbol. Instantly, the platform below me broke, and I fell down to the previous stage. However, as I hit the floor, I became a heartless. I was completely black, with yellow eyes. Several heartless appeared around me. I ran at them, and defeated them with the strength of a heartless. When I again climbed the stairs, I reached the same red platform. This time, I accidentally grabbed the Nobody symbol, and again fell. This time, I became a strange type of variation to a Dusk. I was humanoid, but my arms had blades on them, as well as having my own head on my shoulders. I defeated a group of other dusks. When I returned to the platform, I knew that if I missed again, I would never escape. This third time, I grabbed the heart, and I transformed back into my normal self.

_You still continue, despite setbacks. That is good._

This platform was a light yellow. It was empty, except for my huge, black shadow.

_Beware: the closer you get to the light, the larger your shadow becomes._

From my shadow emerged a huge heartless. I raised my sword from the black platform. Instantly, a mixture of light and darkness shot from it, striking the Heartless in the center of its chest. It faded into darkness. Another stair appeared.

At the next, white stage, I stood alone. Suddenly, Xion was there. And on my opposite side, Axel!

_There will be times when you will not be able to save them all. Who will you choose?_

I was torn. _How could he expect me to choose between this?_ I wondered. As I watched, a line of darkness appeared around each, about to cut them in half.

_NO! _I cried in my heart. Suddenly, it all made sense. I placed my hand on theirs, and the darkness vanished.

The two I had saved suddenly became huge heartless. Xion became a Darkside, while Axel merely swelled to ten times his size, turned pure black, and was just as big as the Darkside. I swiped at the legs of the monster that had replaced Axel, and at the same time I kicked the eye of the giant Darkside. The Darkside collapsed, while Anti-Axel fell, clutching its eye, and rolled off the edge of the Station. The Darkside I leaped atop of and ran its head through with my sword.

_Quite well executed. You may proceed. Only the strong of heart can become worthy._

I ran up the flight of stairs. This final level was multicolored, with all of the colors of the rainbow spiraling into a black center. **(Cue song "Sanctuary: After the Battle" by Utada Hikaru)**

_You tell the truth. You are able to save the friends that you can, and you do not deceive yourself about life. You are not weak when it comes to combat, for you have a will, and you will not allow yourself to die. You are also quite determined, for you escaped the Heartless and Nobody trap. You know who your friends are. You are quite decisive. You have won your Station._

A bright light overcame me, and I saw everything disappear in a white haze. When I cane to myself, I was alone. It was incredibly peaceful here, in the comforting silence. I, now in my normal street clothes consisting of a black jacket over a red and yellow shirt, with blue jeans, floated through a dark void of space calmly and peacefully. I was silent as I did so, but my nose twitched slightly. I opened my sore eyes, having been blinded a bit by the light, before noticing I was floating in a dark void. I looked around, before chuckling and speaking to myself.

"Well...this must be my station..." I sighed, before looking around. Nothing in sight. Nothing. How that one word just seemed to echo within my mind. I floated there quietly, inside this dark space where time came to a halt and space ceased to expand. I just shut my tired eyes, and smirked.

"Heh...guess this is it for me..." I chuckled. I was at peace.

_It does not have to be._

Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared beneath my legs. I shielded my eyes as I waited for the bright light to stop. When it did, I looked down, and was amazed at what I saw. It was a circular platform similar to when I had been completing my tests a few minutes ago. A beam of light shot from an unfathomable distance above me to strike a large boulder on the end of the platform. Where it struck the stone there was a fountain of liquid light. It sprang from a rock, and tumbled down the stones, through several natural pools in the rock, and eventually over the edge of the platform and into the abyss below. There was also a small bench near it. The floor of the platform was stained blue glass, with light coming from below it to illuminate the platform. In the center of the platform was a pair of keyblades stuck into the floor of the station. One was pure white as light, and the other was black as pure darkness. I tried to pull them out: they wouldn't move. At the opposite end of the platform from the light fountain, there was a pale purple door. It was a soothing place, a place of rest.

I sat on the bench, thinking. Then I went through the door at the end of the platform. A bright light shone from out of it.

"FREAKIN LIGHT! I _GET_ IT!" I moaned/yelled, covering my sensitive eyes from all of my encounters with bright lights flashing in my face for the past couple of minutes. The bright light engulfed me completely, much to my dismay. However, after a couple moments passed for me, I knew I was somewhere else. I couldn't feel the solid glass of the station I was at beneath my feet, but instead felt some sort of metal material. I wasn't cold anymore from the desolate but peaceful loneliness of the dark void I was just in. I was back in the room at the Castle That Never Was.

I sat on the floor, shivering. I hid a sob. I was nearly in tears from the effect that the Station had had on me.

"Xir… ch?"

I sat there, shaking and trembling from what I had just experienced. Xion placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Xion." I felt a tear run down my face. "What was this? What was this… _feeling?_ It couldn't be emotion, but yet I couldn't see how it could be anything else. I know that I probably look horrible right now, and the truth is I feel so… strange. I honestly don't know what happened. But I was somewhere. I can't describe it. It was so… so…" I couldn't finish, but I collapsed in Xion's arms. Xion appeared to be at a loss as to what to do. In the end, she stayed there, allowing me to lean on her as I shook. Eventually, I recovered.

"Thank you, Xion." I looked at her. I could only see her mouth, because her hood was pulled so low. I wondered, had it been anyone else, if they would have let me simply cry on them.

_Nah, the older guys would shake me off, Zexion would say to apply myself, Marluxia and Xaldin would impale me, Larxene would either kill me or rape me, Axel would laugh, Demyx would play mood music, Saix would walk away, and Xemnas… I don't know what he would do, probably give me a lecture on Kingdom Hearts. Xion is… nice. Really nice…_

Neither of us ever mentioned that night again. After Xion helped me back to my room, she gave me a smile, and sat with me until I fell asleep. I fell asleep holding her hand like a child.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:_ Xsirch: _Keyblade Mistress

I entered Tram Common. Xion and I were partnered up again for the day. We had to eliminate a Darkside giant heartless. I felt decidedly awkward around her that morning: I had not forgotten about last night!

"Lets get this over with." I said, giving Xion a smile. I was trying to be nice to her to make up for her having to put up with me crying all over her.

"All right, Xsirch." Xion said.

_DWAH!_

_Hey! She talked! _I thought excitedly. "Sure, Xion!" I said in response.

Suddenly, Xion reached up. Her hands grasped the hood that obscured her face, and flipped it back.

Xion was a girl with short black hair and blue eyes. She smiled at me.

Then she launched a Firaga spell right past my ear.

Incinerating the shadow heartless that had been sneaking up on me.

"Th…thanks!" I stuttered. Xion gave a small giggle.

"You're welcome."

We searched the area around Tram Common. No giant heartless, but an abundance of soldier heartless.

We were walking through an alley when I saw a group of Novashadows. I had been especially wary of them, ever since my encounter with the rabid one. However, here in front of me was a group of six of them, all growling as feral as the one that I had been assigned to previously destroy.

A black blur raced by me. Something tore into the group of heartless. It seemed to be a being of darkness itself. It had claws that glistened, dripping with black liquid.

It stood up, amid the remains of the dead, fading heartless. It looked at me. It was…

A Neoshadow.

Around its neck was a white strip of leather.

The Neoshadow raced away, and disappeared.

"What was that?" Xion asked, her blue eyes wide in wonder. I guessed that my dark brown eyes were widened in a similar expression.

"Beats me." I shrugged.

Xion started to ask me another question, but at that moment a loud crashing sound startled us both. We ran out of the alley, and saw a huge heartless, the Darkside, about to smash a kid. The kid was pinned to the ground by a fallen cart of flowers.** (Cue song "Points of Authority" by Linkin Park)**

"Get the kid!" I yelled. I ran inwards. I fired off a bolt of darkness to distract the Darkside.

In that moment, I noticed a difference between the darkness of my keyblade and the darkness of the Darkside. It was not a visible difference, but it was a difference I could feel. Whereas my darkness was a powerful force, it was not necessarily an evil force, it was merely power. The darkness of the Darkside, however, was a foul, reeking force.

All of that was realized in a split second of time. Then. The Darkside turned to me, and slammed its hand on the ground. A pool of darkness emanated from it. Shadow Heartless began popping up from it. I spun in a circle, eliminating the heartless closest to me. Then a powerful blow slammed into me, and my keyblade flew from my hands. I closed my eyes, waiting to die.

Suddenly, a keyblade appeared in Xion's hands.

It was the opposite of my keyblade. Instead of a pair of dark purple tinted black bat wings furling up to a group of black spikes, it had a pair of golden hued white angel wings furling up to a white snowflake. The keychain on it was not a black pentagram, as it was on mine, but a white hexagram. Xion lashed out with her keyblade, and it destroyed the Darkside.

Her keyblade was named First Order.

"Whoa… Nice going, Xion!" I said, stunned.

"… huh?" She said.

"I didn't know you could wield the keyblade." I said.

"Me either… not until now." She said. She dismissed her weapon.

We arrived back at the dark portal.

"Hey," I said awkwardly. "You wanna come have ice cream with me?" I asked.

"Sure." She smiled. "Is that what you usually do after the missions?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I used to do it with Axel, but he's at C.O. Axel was my friend."

"Friend…" Xion said the word slowly, as if feeling it in her mouth. "What's a friend?"

"Friends are people who laugh together. And eat ice cream together. And other things." I shrugged. "I'm not so sure myself. I'll have to ask Axel."

"Do you think… that we could be friends?" Xion asked.

"I think… Maybe… I'll ask Axel when he comes back."" I smiled.

We went off, and had ice cream.

Later that day, I wrote in my diary.

"_Today was my third day with Xion. I've gotten to know a little more about her. That's right- she's a girl, with black hair, and she can use the Keyblade Just like me! I took her out for ice cream afterwards, but I'm saving the WINNER stick. Axel deserves a reward when he gets back. Xion wants to have ice cream with us from now on. Maybe we'll be friends."_

Suddenly, Saix burst into my room.

"Xsirch!" he commanded. "Get to the Grey Area immediately! Castle Oblivion is under attack by a huge horde of heartless led by some dark power. We must come to the aid of our fellow members!" He rushed off to the next dorm, Demyx, and repeated the message.

_Castle Oblivion? _I wondered. _Axel's there!_ I summoned my keyblade. I would protect my friend with my life. I ran to the grey area.

"There you are." Xigbar looked at me. All of the remaining members were there. Only Demyx was missing. "Now we only wait for Demyx."

"My fellow Nobodies." Xemnas intoned. "We must defend our fastness in Castle Oblivion, and we must come to the aid of our fellow Organization members. I myself will lead you in this battle. Saix will be remaining here among the Dusks to defend the Castle That Never Was if need be. We will all do our best, for Kingdom Hearts!"

Xemnas summoned a portal. We all filed through.

We emerged on a barren rocky hill overlooking a plain of stone. There, in the plain, I saw Marluxia, Larxene, Zexion, Lexaeus, Vexen, and Axel accompanied by a large number of Dusks, fighting off a huge army of heartless of all shapes and species. Standing on an outcropping above us was a dark figure. He turned to us and grinned darkly.

"It seems I have more nothings to stab." The dark figure chuckled.

"I do the stabbing around here." Xaldin growled.

"You… are a bastard." I proclaimed.

"It seems your fate is to be cast as well." Luxord chuckled.

"You're gonna die, mate." Xigbar loaded his arrowguns.

"Got that right." Xion smirked.

Xemnas leaped up to the outcropping where the figure stood, preparing to battle him one on one.

"So…" Xemnas intoned. "It seems your heart has led you to obliteration. Perhaps it does not pay to be too loyal to one's heart."

Xemnas summoned his ethereal blades. The figure began hovering, and summoned a huge heartless behind him.

"We shall see…" the dark figure smiled maliciously. "We shall see."

I, with the rest of the Organization, charged into the battle to aid our comrades. I hoped Xemnas would be all right.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:_ Xemnas: _The Battle of Nothing

My ethereal blades, Interdiction, were blocked by the huge heartless that had materialized behind the figure. His face reminded me of someone I did not want to ever remember.

Myself. My former self.

"Submit!" He yelled. I dodged the strike, and spun in a circle. My ethereal blades cut into the dark figure's side. My opponent hissed in rage. Then he raised his hands, and a group of bat heartless appeared, swarming over me. I merely summoned a sphere of nothing, infused with electricity.

I stood ready for combat, and I threw out my two ethereal blades in a spinning motion going around him that knocked the dark figure backwards.

"TAKE THAT!" I shouted. The dark figure then tried to slice at me, but I merely turned into an illusion and moved out of the way. The dark figure went to a new position and tried to attack again, but I jumped into the air. The dark figure looked up, only to see me come down at him from directly above, spinning my ethereal blades as he did so. The dark figure was blasted backwards, but he spun in mid-air and regained balance. The dark figure, damaged from the attack, cast a Cure spell on himself as I became a mirage; I flew right behind The dark figure and tried to do my first, spinning circle ethereal blade attack. The dark figure, however, countered and began unleashing his own combination attack on me, sending me into the air. The dark figure continued with his combo attacks, hitting me mercilessly, until I countered with my charging aerial spin attack. The dark figure dodged the attack. The dark figure spun back upwards and tried to attack me, but I turned into another illusion, came behind the dark figure, jumped upwards, and dashed downwards with my spinning blade attack.

"_Who is this guy!" _I mentally shouted, as I ran backwards to get some distance. I charged at him in his illusion form again, but this time the dark figure turned around and tried to slice at me.

Both of us could feel our hearts beating as we got closer to each other.

My Interdiction and his Guardian heartless were about to clash.

I made the wrong move, however, as I attacked too early; the dark figure beat me into the air with a single swipe, and then he stuck his hand into the air.

"COME! MY SELF!" The dark figure shouted. Immediately, I saw both my ethereal blades extinguish from my hands, and appear in the hands of the dark figure. I landed on the ground, and The dark figure unleashed his own standard striking attacks, with my own weapons flying at me at high speed. I was mercilessly bashed around like a rag doll. I made several columns of nothingness appear around me before launching them at the dark figure to try and push him back. This maneuver worked, as the dark figure was blasted backwards by the multiple columns of nothing. The dark figure cast a second Cure spell on himself to keep in the game, but now the columns of nothing appeared to be trapping him, preventing him from a straight direct attack to me. I turned illusory again and appeared behind the dark figure, before using the columns of nothing to repel the dark figure. However, the dark figure took his chances and broke through the columns successfully, before unleashing another combination attack on me, launching me into the air again. The dark figure tried to do a second combo in mid-air, but I quickly landed and sent my columns of nothing flying in all directions. The dark figure was blasted back into the ground, still wielding my ethereal blades.

"_Man, this guy is tough!" _I angrily noted, as I continued to shoot columns of nothing and other deadly material at the dark figure from my position. The dark figure dodged this attack, but now more columns of nothing began appearing around the dark figure, trying to entrap him. The dark figure ran out of the way as fast as he could, while I turned into an illusion and tried to attack the dark figure from behind while he was distracted with the columns of nothing.

"It's over!" The dark figure shouted, as he turned around, and began attacking me with the ethereal blades. I tried to move back, but I was caught in the frenzy of ethereality and was slashed at repeatedly.

Enduring the pain as if it was nothing.

Because I _was _nothing.

"_I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" _I mentally shouted. I kicked the dark figure away before reclaiming both of my ethereal blades again. I and The dark figure landed on separate sides of the battlefield, before we both charged at each other. My ethereal blades clashed against the arms of the heartless Guardian in the center of the battlefield, with neither one of us giving in.

"Who...who are you!" I desperately asked. The dark figure just continued to push back, before responding in a dark tone.

"Someone from the dark," he answered. Then I noticed his hand. It clasped my chest in its grip, and I collapsed with darkness-induced pain. I looked out at my warriors.

Marluxia kept slicing his scythe at the Heartless, cutting them down easily. Lexaeus smashed his axe sword into the ground, opening a crevasse that sent several Heartless falling into an abyss below the castle. Zexion fired several spells out of his lexicon, setting some Heartless on fire, freezing some Heartless on the spot, and shocking several Heartless into submission. Larxene was throwing her kunais in every direction, hitting into as many Heartless as she could. Vexen was throwing everything cold he had at the hordes of Heartless. Xsirch, Xion, and Axel all stood back-to-back, as several Heartless surrounded them. Axel smirked.

"Well, this seems unfair for them," Axel chuckled.

"You think we can take 'em?" Xion wondered.

"Well...it might be difficult if one more showed up," Xsirch noted.

"Then that'll be the one I'll take care of," Axel chuckled again, before the three warriors ran out in a straight line and began slicing down the clusters of Heartless. At the same time, Marluxia used his pink scythe and sliced several of the Heartless into two halves without any effort at all. Xaldin threw his spears into the air, and formed them into his lance dragon. Jumping atop his lance dragon, Xaldin began firing a large wind burst at the Heartless, blowing them into the air like insects. Of course, some of the Heartless used their new aerial setting to their advantage; some Heartless began spinning, so they could bound off of the sides of Castle Oblivion and strike back at Xaldin. Xaldin continued slicing away the Heartless, until one Heartless struck him from behind. Whenever Xaldin let his guard down, several more Heartless slammed directly into Xaldin's chest, knocking the wind out of him.Xaldin dropped his lances and fell over...and he never got back up, as the Heartless began clustering over him, slashing at him mercilessly. I summoned a portal. Xaldin fell through the dark portal, to a safe place in the Castle that Never Was. I could not allow my members to die before we had gained Kingdom Hearts. Demyx saw Xaldin go down, and when the Heartless got off and ran towards everyone else, there was nothing there anymore.

"Dance water, dance!" Demyx shouted, strumming on his sitar faster to make his water clones appear and attack the Heartless. Since it was raining heavily, the water clones were substantially powered-up, although the Heartless had no trouble destroying them. Demyx used his water powers to run around, while shooting up columns of water as he did so. Luxord was atop a nearby rock, his razor edged cards spinning randomly throughout the melee. Meanwhile, Xion and Xsirch continued slicing Heartless, until Xion was slammed in the back next to Larxene. Larxene turned around and ripped apart the Heartless that knocked over Xion, as Xion quickly got up.

"It's that guy!" Xion grunted, before slicing up three Heartless with one swipe of her Keyblade.

"He's the controller of them! When he goes down, the Heartless will disappear!" Xigbar shouted, shooting several Heartless out of the sky. Xion grimaced at the sight of Xigbar.

"I see you've been doing well," Xion growled, before slashing some more Heartless to pieces. Xigbar just teleported himself behind her and began shooting energy arrows at more Heartless. Suddenly, a large group of heartless leaped on Xion and held her down.

Xion continued to struggle, until a couple slices from Marluxia and several shots from Xigbar killed the Heartless holding her back. Xion tried to reach me, but couldn't because of the barrier the dark figure put up between us. Xion, gripping her Keyblade in rage, began slicing at the Heartless that began to surround her.

"You BASTARD!" Xion screamed at the dark figure, while slicing away the Heartless. Xsirch was doing the exact same thing, but was having much difficulty due to fatigue. He had abandoned his keyblade in favor of the lighter and easier to use twin Soul Eater swords. Demyx, still running around, kept firing more water blasts at the Heartless. Soon enough, however, one Heartless jumped right in front of Demyx's path. Demyx was thrown off his guard and slammed face-first into the ground. I summoned the last dregs of my power from my prone position. Whenever the Heartless swarmed him, Demyx fell through my dark portal back to the interior of the castle. Larxene continued throwing her kunais like crazy, before growling in anger and beginning to glow a bright yellow. Several Heartless jumped atop of her, but were shocked off by Larxene, before Larxene began running at hyper speed. Larxene and her afterimages began slicing apart many Heartless, but soon Larxene ran out of juice, and was surrounded. Larxene began spinning and firing a large electrical ball of energy, blasting several Heartless into the air while shocking the rest. Marluxia took this opportunity to slice at more Heartless, while Lexaeus began opening small fissures to send clusters of Heartless down into their makeshift grave. Zexion and Vexen continued their assault against the Heartless, but their strength was getting progressively weaker for each Heartless they destroyed.

"I don't think we can hold out much longer!" Zexion shouted.

"XEMNAS! Stop that guy already!" Vexen growled. I just grunted in pain.

"Vexen, Xemnas's down!" Axel shouted, before being hit by another Heartless. Axel began slashing at the Heartless alongside Xsirch, although the fight was going nowhere. Larxene stopped her mad electrical rampage and began running at hyperspeed again, until one Heartless got smart and slashed at her after her hyperspeed rampage was finished. Larxene was blown back into a wall, and several Heartless tackled her to the floor. Larxene then joined Xaldin and Demyx in their place inside the castle at our home base. They were to be our insurance: should we fail here, we would at least have remaining members. Marluxia continued to swipe his scythe across the battlefields, sending flower blades across everything in all directions. Soon, though, Marluxia would run out of strength. Marluxia, holding his scythe, jumped high into the air, and he began glowing. Several sakura petals began flowing around his body, until he began shooting out petals at light speed. Each petal struck down each and every Heartless there, and Marluxia didn't stop until all of the Heartless perished. Soon enough, however, Marluxia ran out of power and began to fade away into oblivion, but not until Marluxia sent one large flower burst at all the Heartless, effectively killing most of them and injuring the rest. Marluxia fell to the ground, and through a dark portal of my making, as with the Organization members that fell before him. However, his demise was forestalled, as nearly every remaining member of the organization sent a Curaga spell towards him. Zexion and Lexaeus took this opportunity to double-team the remaining Heartless. Lexaeus slammed his axe sword directly into the ground, opening another fissure that sent nearly all of the Heartless to a dark grave. Zexion fired several powerful fire spells from his lexicon, burning the rest of the Heartless that didn't fall into the crevasse. One Heartless managed to sneak away, but was frozen in place by Vexen. Vexen, brandishing the sharp and pointy end of his ice shield, immediately stabbed the Heartless he froze directly in the chest, shattering it and killing it in one blow.

"Humph. Just an experiment," Vexen growled as he turned around. Zexion and Lexaeus stopped the assault, as Xion and Xsirch had vanquished the final dozen of Heartless that had been surrounding them. Taking a look now, everyone took instant note of what was happening.

I, Xemnas, was injured, with the leader of the heartless standing over me.

Demyx and Xigbar were severely injured, and inside the Castle That Never Was, a world away, along with Saix, who was there to guard the castle.

Larxene and Marluxia were equally injured, but were inside the nearby Castle Oblivion.

Luxord was injured, but not fatally. However, I doubted he was in fighting condition.

The remaining fighters were: Xigbar, Axel, Xsirch, Xion, Zexion, Vexen, and Lexaeus.

"Now, you fools." The dark figure said. "I will absorb your leader, just as I was supposed to in the beginning!"

At that instant, he fell over, unconscious. Lexaeus stood behind him, bloodied and battered.

"Thank you, Lexaeus." I stood, casting a cure spell on myself.

The dark figure leapt up, dodged away, and vanished into the darkness.

"Lord Xemnas." Zexion walked up to me. In Marluxia's absence, he was in charge of Castle Oblivion. "You should return to your castle. I fear that it may be under assault as well."

"I know that." I beckoned my remaining warriors closer. Xsirch looked as if he would rather keep standing with Axel, but he complied with my wishes.

"We must return. I entrust that you will keep your fortress safe." I said to Zexion. Zexion nodded.

"The Keyblade wielder has no idea what is happening. It was perfectly safe to leave him in there." He confirmed. I nodded. I snapped my fingers. My members disappeared into portals of darkness. Zexion did the same for those under his command.

"Fare well, Lord Xemnas." He said, before disappearing into his own portal to Castle Oblivion.

_I hope we have not been revealed. _I thought to myself as I returned to the Castle That Never Was. _That man… he seemed like… ME…_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:_ Xsirch: _Sighs

I peered around the corner of the rock which I was hiding behind. I was the only one of the team from the Castle That Never Was remaining in the area of Castle Oblivion. I hadn't had a chance as of yet to speak to Axel, and I didn't intend to leave until I did.

I overheard Marluxia and Zexion talking.

"Three captives and a keyblade master." Marluxia mused. "We cannot afford to allow the intruder to interfere. I myself will hunt him down." Marluxia strode off into the night, while Zexion opened a dark portal into Castle Oblivion.

_Now's my chance._ I thought. I was about to dash into Zexion's portal, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me. Axel pulled me behind a rock.

"You idiot!" he said. "You should be back at the castle now! It doesn't pay to disobey Xemnas's orders!"

"But I wanted to talk to you!" I pleaded.

"Listen, it isn't safe." His eyes darted around the area. "Some of the members of the Organization are traitors. That's why I was sent to C.O. I was ordered to kill anyone who was a traitor." He took a deep breath. "Things here are going to get way too violent for you to stay here. I need you to stay back at the Castle." He opened a dark portal. "You should go. I don't want Marluxia seeing you here."

"But-" I stopped. "… Okay." I walked silently to the portal.

I slashed at the heartless that were popping up in front of me. A huge bunch of shadows had appeared, and for some reason they were trying to get into the castle. I had been ordered to guard the entrance as punishment for returning late after Xemnas clearly ordered us to RTC.

It was the day after the heartless attack on Castle Oblivion. I had been here all through the night. Now, as I watched, I saw the blackness of the sky of the World That Never Was shift to a slightly lighter shade of black. I had never seen the sky in the World That Never Was. It was always obscured by dark, foreboding rainclouds.

I was startled from my reverie by the sound of footsteps. As I watched, Xigbar, ever an early riser, walked out of the entrance of the Castle, and into the World That Never Was.

"Time dragging, kiddo?" he asked. I always wondered which world Xigbar had grown up in, because his accent seemed weirdly familiar. Now that I thought of it, ALL of the Organization's voices were pretty familiar.

"Yeah." I sighed. "Any news on the Castle Oblivion team?" I asked. Saix emerged from behind the entrance to the castle.

"Unfortunately, one of our members at Castle Oblivion was terminated." Saix intoned.

"What?" I asked, shocked. "You don't mean… Axel…"

"I believe that the one terminated may have been Axel." Saix nodded.

No… I felt dizzy. I heard Xigbar yell "Xsirch!" I had a falling sensation. Suddenly, I was on the ground. _Gee, it didn't even hurt…_

I saw Xigbar's concerned face, and a glimpse of Saix's impassive expression, before I everything went dark-


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: ? _: _Capture

_Fools._ I stood overlooking the castle that supposedly held one of the keys to darkness. _They may be powerful, but I doubt that they can stand before the tides of pure darkness!_

"I can hear you." I turned, my long white hair swaying. I folded my arms. "You aren't going to be able to hide your presence from me with mere _illusions. _Your leader tried when we battled. It didn't really work."

"Very well…" a figure with a large pink and silver scythe appeared in front of me, wearing a black coat and sporting a pink hairdo. "You will-." He started, surprised. "Lord Xemnas! What are you doing here?"

"Arranging your funeral." I drilled him with a deathly gaze. **(cue song "Ansem's Theme")**

"No… you aren't Lord Xemnas… Could it be you, Xehanort?"

I laughed diabolically. "Do not even think it for a moment, Nobody!" I began hovering. Behind me, I summoned my heartless guardian.

"What are you, a heartless?" he growled. He readied his scythe for combat.

My red eyes glowed with pleasure. "By fate's hand, the darkness will consume you!" I teleported directly behind him, and sent him flying with a blow from my guardian's huge claws. The pink-haired nobody got up, seemingly furious. He ran at me, swinging his scythe in circles. I merely stretched out my hand, and his attacks bounced off of the invisible shield of darkness that I had summoned. No matter how many times he tried to attack me, it was the same. It was hell getting the timing perfect. I had to extend my hand at just the right moment, or the shield wouldn't nullify his attack.

He twirled his scythe, and summoned a flood of blood-red sakura petals. _Flowers? Honestly, what is he thinking?_ I caught one of the petals as it flew past me, and got a cut for my pains. _Hmm... Razor edged sakura petals flying in a near unavoidable frenzy… I like that. _However, even that was useless: I merely summoned a large cloud of flying heartless to surround me, which bore the attack for me. _Feel honored to die for me, you hearts of darkness!_ When the cloud cleared, I saw the man crouched, tired.

"No… how did you..?" he was shocked. I readied to blast him into oblivion.

Then I felt a large weight on the back of my head, and I fell…

I awoke in an agony.

Looking around, attempting to block out the pain, I saw that I was being held in midair by beams of electricity. Around my neck was a collar… _NO! _I screamed in my mind. I recognized the collar. It was one that I had experimented with before I had become a heartless: one that suppressed all power.

_This is not over!_ I fumed. _I will find my real body. And I will have my revenge!_

As I fumed, I saw a teenager and a girl walk in. The teenager smashed the apparatus that activated the electric beams.

"Hey Ansem!" he called. "I think I need your help. My name's Chris Talonflight."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Chris Talonflight_:_ Countdown to Battle

"Perish in the abyss!" Ansem called, as he fired blasts of darkness at Vexen. Vexen dodged and blocked as best as he could. Ansem had commanded rather then asked Yuffie and I to remain on the sidelines. He was becoming the real leader of this expedition, ever since I rescued him from that cell. I only hoped that he wouldn't be killed by DiZ when we finally reached him. We were currently in front of the old mansion in the fake Twilight Town.

"Hey you! Get back!" a voice called. Ansem jerked back just in time. A man with spiky red hair and two triangles under his eyes, and wearing a black Organization XIII outfit sprang forwards, sending one flaming chakram at Vexen. Axel, the eighth member of Organization XIII had arrived. I restrained Ansem.

"He's on our side." I told him. Although it didn't seem like Ansem believed me, he stood quietly.

"Axel…" Vexen gasped. "Why… Why…" Axel merely grinned.

"I always get the icky jobs." He snapped his fingers, and a ring of fire closed around Vexen, ending his existence entirely.

"Hey Lea." I called.

"I have no idea how you know me." he said, scratching his head. "But its _Axel_. Got it memorized?"

"Duh." I said. "Anyway, you wouldn't happen to have a floor card on you, would you?"

"Here" He tossed it over his shoulder towards me. "Kill Marluxia for me. Make's my job easier."

"Don't worry. I plan to." I said.

"By the way, there's someone here to see you." He waved. A girl ran out of the trees.

"Chris!" she said. "I wanted to meet you at least once. There's stuff about this castle I think you should know."

"I know that I'm rapidly losing memories because of it." I said. Namine was cute, to say the least, but she looked way to young for my taste.

"Yes." She said. "Also, I brought you a card that should get you all the way up to Marluxia. Marluxia himself has the card that will send you onto the staircase that will lead you up to my room, where I can fix your memories." She cast a fearful glance at Ansem.

"Its okay." I said. "Ansem is helping me. When I fall asleep, let him go."

"You… you know he's a heartless…" she said.

"Yeah. In fact, my best friend is a heartless." I summoned Nudge from the card. He hopped on my shoulder. He poked Namine. _Namine is really really short._ Namine giggled.

"See you at the top." I said. Namine looked at me for a moment with what I thought was a wistful look.

"I wish… I wish we had more time." She said. _Oh no… Don't tell me that NAMINE is actually going to fall for me because I'm here instead of Sora… Just PERFECT… I wonder who's Nobody Namine is._ _Forget this. The only one for me is Yuffie. _"See you at the top!"

"uh… Yeah." I said, slightly flustered.

"Namine!" Axel called. "I have to put you back before Marluxia knows you're gone!"

"Yes Axel." Namine called.

"Hey Axel." I called.

"Yeah?" Axel responded.

"Take care of you friends." I said. I didn't really want my nobody to have a hard time. "Especially Xsirch."

Axel nodded. "I will."

Namine looked at me one last time before following Axel through a dark portal. I shrugged, and walked through the door to the next level.

Instead of another world, here we were inside a square room. There was another door at the other end of the room. The door behind us suddenly disappeared.

"So you have made it this far." A voice said. "I am surprised." The chair in the center of the room swiveled around to face us. Sitting there was Marluxia, the Graceful Assassin. "I take it you have disposed of my minions?"

"Vexen is dead. So is Larxene, and I should imagine that Lexaeus is dead by now too. So it should be just Zexion and you. Pretty soon it will be just Zexion." I summoned my two Soul Eaters.

"how confident." Marluxia's eyes travelled to Ansem. "you managed to defeat me before, but I promise you, your tactics will be far less effective here. While your memories are mostly untouched, you will find that you have forgotten certain moves. And any heartless that you summon here…" he waved his hand, and a group of Dusks appeared. "… Will be dealt with swiftly." He then spied Yuffie. "As for you, you fake, did you really expect to leave here alive?"

"Don't call her that!" I yelled.

"She is a fake, a replica forged from your memories." He said, seemingly puzzled. "Why do you deny the truth?"

"Even a replica has feelings. And I feel for her!" I took up the Riku combat pose. I had learned a few tricks from Ansem on the way up, so I had a few moves that I hadn't forgotten. However, this battle would be decided not by power, but by skill with our weapons. I had taken a careful watch of Marluxia, and knew most of his moves.

"Your confidence is underwhelming." Ansem growled. He summoned his heartless guardian. "Where is Xemnas?"

"Xemnas is in our home base." Marluxia retorted. Ansem fixed me with a look.

"You said we would find him." He accused.

"Sure I did. I never said we would find him here." I never looked away from Marluxia. "He's in another world, but I know how to get there. Don't worry. Once I get my memory back, I will personally take you there."

"You'd better." Ansem began hovering. Yuffie brought out her giant shuriken.

"It's now or never." I growled.** (Cue song "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed)**

Marluxia spun his scythe at me. I spun, my sword clanging off of his scythe. Marluxia pushed me back, swinging his weapon in a deadly circle. Ansem summoned several dark weapons floating around him, and sent them into a spinning attack. Yuffie stayed back, hurling numerous shurikens and kunais. I summoned six balls of energy around me. "Equaled yet?" I asked. I then sent each of the blasts towards Marluxia in a machine gun style. I charged through Ansem's floating weapons, with my two Soul Eaters in my hands. Marluxia responded with a blast of razor edged sakura petals. I summoned a dark shield around me. Then Marluxia slammed Ansem to the floor and sprang towards me, whirling his scythe.

"Ahh!" I heard Ansem yell. I dodged Marluxia's attack, and turned to look. Several Dusk Nobodies had clambered all over him. They were rapidly being decimated, but more were appearing every second. As powerful as Ansem was, he was in danger of being overrun by the army. I rolled towards him and sent out a dark shockwave, blasting back the army, and giving him some breathing room. Another cry from behind me made my blood freeze.

"Well." Marluxia growled. "Now we know for sure. You really were a fake!" Yuffie was impaled on the end of Marluxia's scythe.

"BASTARD!" I yelled.

We met in a clash. I summoned Last Chaos, my dark keyblade. Marluxia backed up.

"What… You can wield the keyblade?" he was stunned. I grinned with anger.

"DIE!" I yelled, and my keyblade shattered Marluxia's scythe. My blade continued forwards, slamming into Marluxia.

"You traitorous son of a-" I broke off. Then, leaving my keyblade inside a rapidly fading Marluxia, I walked over to where Yuffie lay. **(Cue song "The Other Promise" from Kingdom Hearts II Soundtrack)**

"Yuffie." I took her hand in mine. "I am so, so sorry."

"Chris…" she looked into my eyes. "it's… all right… I wanted to go with you…"

"it's not all right!" I exclaimed. "I don't want you to die!"

"Its… better this way…"

"no it isn't!" I yelled. "I care about you Yuffie! I love you!"

Yuffie smiled gently. "No you don't. You love… the real me. The real Yuffie. I'm… just a fake Replica. It's better this… way. When I die… I will… merge with the real… me. Then… we will always be together."

"Yuffie." I said her name. I repeated it over and over. Her eyes started to close.

"You must return… to the… real… world…" she said. "I will… be okay… I will… always love you…"

Her eyes closed completely, and she stopped breathing. I cried over her body. I looked at Yuffie, who was beautiful even in death. _Sleep well. Your journey is at its end._ I picked up the thin chain that this Yuffie had always worn looped into her belt and put it around my neck. A small cylinder with a single rune on it hung at the bottom, against my chest. I cut my hand and let the drops of my blood fall into the cylinder, then did the same thing to Yuffie: our blood mixed together, a symbol of what might have been, of what would have been. Then I bent over my dead love and gave her cold lips one, final kiss of farewell. **(Cue song "End of the World" from Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack)**

"Ansem." I said, without turning around, "In exactly one year, you and I will meet again. Meet me in Twilight Town, in front of the Old Mansion. I should be there in exactly one year." I looked up at my mentor.

"Death of one close to you is hard." Ansem seemed emotionless. "I can remember that from my past life."

"Then will you wait for me?" I asked. Ansem hesitated, and then nodded.

"I have come to like you, boy. I would call you my friend." He placed his hand on my shoulder for one instant, and for a single instant a human and rabid heartless shared a common feeling. Then Ansem stepped back, and walked into a dark portal. I stood up. I placed Yuffie's body into Marluxia's chair. I placed the dead Marluxia behind the chair. Picking up one of Yuffie's shurikens, I slammed it again and again into Marluxia's fading body. Then I placed the bloody shuriken into Yuffie's cold hand. Retrieving my keyblade, I looked one last time at Yuffie, and then I opened the door to Namine's Stair.

I began climbing the three hundred steps to the very top of Castle Oblivion. I relaxed all the way. The nightmare of Castle Oblivion was almost at an end.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:David Frostmourne: Johnson.

**(Cue song: "Points of Authority" by Linkin Park) **I lay there on the ground, my double katana in my hand. I rolled quickly, avoiding the blast of darkness, and sat up.

"You fool!" the remnant of Johnson spat. "I will destroy you! You would save yourself a lot of pain if you would give up! There is still time to surrender!"

"Well, feel free." From my sitting position, I did a back flip, landed on my feet, and began charging at Johnson. I raised my double ended katana to slice at him, but Johnson flung out his hand, blocking my strike. I pushed against his block. We stayed like that for nearly thirty seconds of pure agony, straining to overpower the other. My enhanced muscles, swelled to five times my normal strength due to the threat that Johnson posed, vied with Johnson's darkness-laced animal strength. We never found out who would have won, because my double ended katana, formerly Johnson's weapon, chose that moment to break its lower blade. Both Johnson and I stumbled, and we separated. I looked at my weapon. There was still another blade left, and it would work as a single bladed sword. I lifted my now single-bladed weapon in defiance. The remnants of the shattered bottom blade swirled around the remaining blade in a flash of darkness mixed with light, and fused with the blade, giving it a spiked serrated edge.

"Why do you still struggle? What do you have worth fighting for?" Johnson asked.

"At first, it was for Chris." I said. "He's my friend. But now, I'm fighting just to _kill_ you!"

"Such violence… I like that." He grinned insanely, before slamming both hands into the ground. The ground beneath my feet crumbled into an abyss.

_The fact that he even tried to get me to surrender means that I can beat him. He's tiring, and I can see it. We've been fighting for nearly six hours now. Good thing my suit is well stocked with potions and energy injections. However, even though he's tiring, he's still going at it with that insane energy of his._

My entire life seemed to be normal up until the last few months. It had all started when I had been sent on a mission by my employer, King Mickey, to find a man named Cloud. I had ended up befriending a teenager named Chris Talonflight, the Wielder of Darkness and the Master of the Keyblade, along with his friends: Nudge, the Overpowered Shadow Heartless; Rodney, the Storm's Apprentice; C, the Aquarius Guitarist; and Ashley, another Keyblade wielder. Chris was the only one I knew who could use darkness for good. After aiding Chris in a rescue mission to save his girlfriend Yuffie, I had been captured by Organization XIII and brought to their Castle Oblivion, where I met a replica of Chris. He informed me that the real Chris was fighting his way up that very same Castle, but that we were not allowed to help him. Aided by the King, we managed to escape from Castle Oblivion. However, the ancient wizard that had been holding Yuffie hostage had possessed Chris's Replica. I had taken the possession into myself, which resulted in Chris's Replica losing his dark powers. The replica then went to Traverse Town to meet up with Leon and his group. The King sent me to Twilight Town, where I met a man named DiZ. It was he who had drawn the possession of Johnson out of my heart, so that I could face Johnson in battle and defeat his possession. Once I beat him, I would aid DiZ and his aid, Namine, in restoring Chris's memories, which had been scattered in his ordeal in Castle Oblivion.

I back flipped and landed on a small ledge. I pushed off high into the air and activated my Anti-Gummi.

My Anti-Gummi was a small watch-like device that was capable of creating portals to other worlds. However, now I used it to make a portal to right behind Johnson. I appeared, and I rammed my blade through his chest. He started making Fish-Out-Of-Water noises. Then he retaliated with a blast of darkness that hurled me through the air.

My employer, King Mickey, had told me that Johnson used to be a wizard in the days of the Cataclysm. The Cataclysm was the event that had separated the worlds. In the beginning, there had only been three worlds: Reality, the mysterious Insomnion, and Fantasy. When the Cataclysm occurred, Darkness shattered the connections holding Fantasy together, resulting in the many worlds that now existed. Chris's world, known as Reality, had been shifted to a place in space so far away from Fantasy that they had long since forgotten about the events of the far-off Cataclysm, and for them the term "Fantasy" meant to daydream. They now called their world Earth. No one knew what had happened to Insomnion. I, from the worlds of Fantasy, had been born years later on the world of Radiant Garden. I had been taken in by King Mickey and trained to fight. I was the one who he sent on impossible missions, and I always succeeded.

I managed to grab a ledge, and propel myself to an area where the ground was safe. Johnson seemed to magically appear there. I engaged him with my sword.

It seemed that I was on one long mission that had begun the day I bumped into Chris in the world of Traverse Town. But whatever: Chris was my best friend.

It was strange. I was always surrounded by people, but I had only two friends: my girlfriend Isis, who lived in the world of Olympus Coliseum, and now Chris.

Johnson managed to get passed my guard, and threw me against a wall. However, at the point of impact, I used the Anti-Gummi to teleport behind Johnson. I brought my sword down on his head. Time to end this.

The spiked blade slammed him right on his left temple, creating a huge gash. Johnson fell to the ground.

"You… have no idea… what you have done…" Johnson wheezed, the life running out of him. I turned my back on him, dismissing the blade I held.

"Very well executed." DiZ said from the balcony overlooking the carnage. I grimaced at the pun.

_Yes, I believe I did "execute" him quite well._ I though grimly.

"Frostmourne," Namine walked up to me, "I have quite a few of Chris's memories in place. DiZ believes that I should begin the weaving now, but I will need a bit of your help-"

I saw darkness begin covering me. Quickly I whirled around. I saw Johnson's body fading. In seconds, I was covered in darkness. When the darkness lifted, I was a man six feet and five inches tall; I had flowing, long white-blue hair; my eyes that leaked darkness; I had muscles that were laced with power. And behind me were a pair of black wings: one of them a black angel wing, the other a black bat wing.

"Quickly!" DiZ shouted. "Blind your eyes!" He hurled a strip of black cloth at me. Instinctively I snatched it out of the air. I flipped in around my eyes, blindfold style. I felt, rather then saw, the darkness fall away. Suddenly, I realized I could see through the blindfold. Everything was in shades of grey and black, and I saw darkness instead of light, but I could _see_.

I turned to Namine. This strange occurrence would be explained.

"I will do anything to ensure the safety of my friend!"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Ashley Luciano_: _Earth

"Hey C!" I called. My friend stood up from his guitar playing on the front steps of our school building and walked towards me.

"Hey Ashley." C grinned. "How's everything?"

"It's… okay." I smiled. "I was actually thinking about going to see Leon and the rest of them today. We still need to let them know that we defeated Johnson. After all, it _has _been a long time.."

"Then we REALLY need to. Besides, I've been itching to use my Demyx Guitar to drown some heartless." C smirked. I giggled at that.

"Yeah, and I still need to practice with my keyblade." I sighed. "And maybe this time we'll find Rodney."

"Yeah." A cloud of gloom fell on us. Our friend Rodney had been captured by our worst enemy, Johnson, and he had been turned into a strange type of hybrid between a human, heartless, nobody, and Universed. He had been being mind controlled by Johnson when we had last seen him. C had fought him so that the rest of us could chase after Johnson. However, midway through C's attacks Rodney had suddenly fled the scene, and none of us had been able to find him. We still thought of him as a friend.

"Hey, you want to stay at my place tonight?" C offered. "Then first thing tomorrow we can go to Traverse Town."

"I think that's a good idea." I admitted. We started walking down a secluded alley, a shortcut to C's house. Suddenly, on the ground, a shadow appeared, with two yellow orbs for eyes. Only one. A Neoshadow appeared from it.

"I'll take him!" I said, and I summoned my Keyblade, Lurebreaker. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, I was a keyblade wielder.

The Neoshadow didn't move to attack, it merely stood there. I hesitated. I didn't like killing things that weren't attacking me. Then the Neoshadow squeaked.

"Wait… that sounded exactly like Nudge." I whispered. Then the Neoshadow shook its head.

"Are you a tame heartless?" C asked it. The Neoshadow nodded. Then I remembered.

"That guy, Chris, he had a Neoshadow as his tame heartless. Maybe this is his!" I exclaimed. The Neoshadow nodded.

"… Trufflehunter, right?" I asked. Trufflehunter nodded. He then took out a note.

I picked it up. Looking inside it, I saw a badly written note.

"_My friends. It's certainly been a while. I'm writing this note as I lay under seven buildings. Funny, huh? I want you to know that Johnson has been defeated utterly. Since you have both played Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, you should have some idea of what is happening now. You probably won't remember me. I just want to let you know that I am dying. You know how it is when a replica puts his entire self into an attack. Anyway, I just want you to know that… *LARGE INK SMUDGE* I don't know how to say this, but watch out for Trufflehunter. Keep him in memory of me. He was my best friend. See you in a Year. - Replica-Chris Vasquez"_

The note brought tears to my eyes. "I don't even remember him." I said.

"I don't feel like going to see Leon and the others anymore." C said quietly. I nodded.

C and I walked down the street in silence, Trufflehunter walking with us.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Xsirch_: _How Long?

I sat up in a cold sweat.

_Damn… What was that?_ I had a headache. I had had strange dreams about a teenager in blue jeans, a black jacket and with a Shadow Heartless as his companion. He had the same sword that I did.

Something next to me clinked as I shifted in bed. There was a pile of seashells there. I shook my head to clear the fog from my mind. I looked at my calendar. Today was… _HUH?_ It couldn't possibly…

_ Did I just sleep for twenty-four days?_

After I entered the grey area, Saix explained it to me.

"You fell unconscious. We think it was a coma brought on by either memories of trauma that elicited a bodily response, or that you were sick without knowing it. You aren't going on a mission today: you should relax, so we can avoid something like that happening again."

I shrugged. After exercising in my room, I wandered the castle. I spent a goodly portion of that wandering in the dormitories, sabotaging people. Demyx's room got a cup of water balanced precariously on the door, so that the water manipulator would get soaked when he entered his room. Xigbar's room I spent a long time in, admiring his firearms collection. I placed glue on the handle that opened the case, so that when he tried to open it, his hand would get stuck. After I took a sleek looking sniper rifle, of course, hiding that in Xaldin's room. In Xaldin's room, while I was there, I also drew a large, pink smiley face with hearts on his extra coat. When I got to Luxord's room, I replaced his playing cards with ones that gave you a shock if you touched them, taken from Larxene's room. In Saix's room, I mixed up his moon predicting schedule, leaving one of Luxord's aces of spades there. Xion's room was strange. It was neat, orderly, and clean, but it almost scared me how nearly identical to my room it was. However, I didn't play a prank on her.

I arrived at Axel's room, and nearly cried before leaving.

I spent around half an hour practicing in the Organization's Hall of Empty Melodies. The Hall Of Empty Melodies was comprised of two floors: the top floor being an overlook, with the bottom floor being a simple straight pathway leading to a door. In the pathway, however, was a large square of metal many yards square, a perfect arena. However, I got nervous when Xemnas jumped in, putting me against him in a sparring match. After he kicked my ass, I fled to my gravestone, entering it, and arriving at my Station of Awakening. I sat there for a while, relaxing, and reading a book I had stolen from Zexion's room: _The Lord of the Rings_, by some guy called JRR Tolkein.

When I figured that Xion was back from her mission, I went up to the clock tower. Xion ws elated to see me.

"Xsirch!" she sang happily. "I went to a new world!"

We talked and talked for ages, before I finally went back to my room. After I arrived back in my room, I felt obliged to write about it in my diary.

"_I only remember part of the day I fell unconscious. I heard somebody sent to Castle Oblivion was terminated. Saix said it may have been Axel. I don't remember much after that. They say I collapsed and wouldn't wake up... I must have missed a lot. It's like I had the longest dream. I woke up to find a bunch of seashells by my pillow. I counted them- one for each day they said I was asleep. 24 shells! I was wondering who left them there, but then when I got to the clock tower, Xion gave me another one. I held it up to my ear, and I could hear the ocean... Why did it sound so familiar? The stuff I dreamed about felt strangely familiar, too. I remember being in a white room with somebody the same age as me wearing black clothes... and then he sort of disappeared into the white. And there was a girl's voice- she said she knew I'd be "snoozing." Why would she know that? The voice was a little like Xion's."_

I glanced at the last two entry's I had made in my diary. It had been a while since I had had quiet time to myself. I hadn't written in a long time.

"_I sit up on the clock tower, but no one comes. Not Axel, not even Xion. That weird lump in my throat won't go away. Something else is bothering me. This is gonna sound crazy (good thing this is a private diary!) but these pictures keep flashing through my head. Not all the time, just sometimes... Ever since I collapsed. It happens when I'm awake, too- on missions- so I don't think it's a dream. Where are the pictures coming from?"_

"_It sounds like the worst has passed: the whole C.O. team, wiped from existence. It's hard to come to grips with the idea that Axel is gone. I feel... Choked up? I don't know what you'd call it. I've never had this kind of sensation. I went to the clock tower to have ice cream, but nobody else showed up."_

I ran up to the clock tower. It had been forever.

"Hey squirt." I didn't turn. I feared that if I turned I would spoil the illusion that I had just heard Axel's voice.

"If you don't turn around, I'm gonna nail you with this biscuit."

I turned too late, and got a biscuit in the face.

"Hey you little shit-… HUH? AXEL!" I yelled. I leapt up. My red-haired friend laughed, and tossed me a stick of ice cream.

Suddenly, everything seemed okay.

_"__Diary: After work, Axel turned up. Just like that, out of nowhere. I didn't know what to say. I thought we'd lost him for good. We went up to the clock tower and talked for a while. I told him about Xion. The choked up sensation has gone away."_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Xion: Sham

I ran forwards. The faker dodged.

I had been sent today to find a man who was masquerading as an Organization member. I was the logical choice because, whether I knew it or not, I was becoming the strongest member of the organization. And I did know it.

The Organization faker blocked my keyblade strike with his spiked dark sword. He didn't even twitch as he slid to the side, overbalancing me, and tripped me. I fell to the ground. I struggled to my feet, and charged him. He merely ducked beneath my strike, and lashed out with his sword.

"I told you: I don't want to fight you." He said. I fell backwards. My keyblade flying out of my grasp.

"I don't care!" I said angrily. "You are my mission target!"

My target merely shook his head. "I don't know who you're trying to be…" he picked up my keyblade, "But this keyblade… it's a sham. Worthless." He tossed it aside.

"My keyblade is NOT a sham!" I growled, pulsing with fury. I attempted to strike him, but he merely dodged, and threw my back.

"I don't know who you guys are, but my advice is to get away from them. Trust me. They're bad news."

"Why should I believe you?" I asked. "You're the real sham!"

"Fair enough." He smirked a little. "You could say I'm the biggest nobody of them all."

He walked away.

I let out a scream of anger and failure.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Xsirch_:_ Life

I glanced over my diary.

"_Me and Axel went to Agrabah. He seems different now that he's back from C.O. Ice cream was just the two of us today. I wonder when I, Axel and Xion will all get to have ice cream together."_

"_After I finished my mission I wanted all three of us to have ice cream, but I couldn't find Xion. It's been at least ten days since I've last seen her. Axel said he'd ask Saix what was going on. Speaking of Axel, I didn't see him at the clock tower today."_

"_My job today was to help Axel find Xion. It turns out she had gone missing, but we managed to find her. We finally got to all have ice cream together, which was nice, but Xion can't use her Keyblade anymore. Axel says friends help each other out, so I'm gonna go on missions with her until she remembers how to work the Keyblade herself."_

"_Me and Xion are working together now. The Genie we met in Agrabah said he and his friend Al are "inseparable." Axel told us best friends can be inseparable even if they're not always together, but it sounded like he wasn't too sure about it himself. I thought Axel knew everything (HAH) Oh well... That reminds me, those weird pictures flashed through my head again while I was in Agrabah. The guy in red I wrote about before... Has he been to Agrabah or something?"_

"_Xemnas summoned us. Nothing he says ever makes sense to me. He showed us Kingdom Hearts, a big heart-shaped moon floating up there in the night sky, and said the human heart will never have power over us. Great... I guess? So why are we trying to get hearts again? Axel said I'll understand better once I have a heart, but I'm not so sure..."_

"_I went to Agrabah today with Xion. We make a pretty good team now. Afterwards me and her and Axel talked about us and the other Nobodies. The ones who make it into the Organization are powerful enough to keep their memories... But me and Xion can't remember our pasts. What was I like?"_

"_Today's mission was with Xion, in Beast's Castle. I tried loaning her my Keyblade and she had no problem using it. That meant that I had to fight without it, but we got the job done. Afterwards Xion remembered how to summon her own Keyblade, so I guess we're out of trouble. When we were done, we all had ice cream together."_

"_Everyday, after work, the three of us have been going to our place on top of the clock tower to have ice cream. We don't talk about much, but I wouldn't miss these conversations for the world. I wonder if Axel and Xion feel the same way... Do other Organization members have their own routines? It's hard to picture."_

"_Today it was me and Xigbar. Axel and Xion went out on their own mission. Xigbar told me that Xion and me are "exceptional"- you know, like, special Nobodies. Because we can use the Keyblade? Work dragged on late, so I didn't make it up to the clock tower. I wonder if Axel and Xion made it. Those pictures started flashing through my head again on the mission. The boy in red... What's it all about? Maybe when Xigbar called me "special" he meant "crazy"... Seriously, though, is Xion experiencing the same thing? It feels weird to ask."_

"_Axel has been gone forever. It's just been me and Xion at the clock tower. While me and Xaldin explored Beast's Castle, we found something he wants to protect... Xaldin says that's a weakness, but I'm not so sure. What does it mean to care about something that much? I don't, so it's hard to wrap my head around the whole idea." _

"_Today's mission took me to a new world. It was a weird place. I was up on the clock tower afterwards when Axel turned up from being away forever. He said he finished that long mission. But this time, Xion didn't show. I was gonna give Axel that WINNER stick, but I should wait until I get another one. It wouldn't be fair to leave Xion out. "_

"_Today was my first Vacation ever. I didn't know what to do with it. Axel said to do what I like, but all I like is having ice cream with my friends- so that's what I ended up doing. Axel leaves tomorrow for some kind of mission. Which reminds me- I still haven't given him the WINNER stick yet._

_Well, things certainly have changed._ I thought. I had come a long way. I scrawled a new entry for today:

"_Xion didn't come to the clock tower again today. She and Saix had some kind of argument. Axel and I talked for a while about the things we can't bear to lose. Axel thinks that for Nobodies, it's out pasts, because that's all we have to remember the pain of losing something. I don't remember my past, but the idea of losing the present- Axel or Xion- scares me."_

I walked through Twilight Town I saw Xion there, but she ran away from me. Once I caught her, I got an unlikely story.

"_I ran into Xion in Twilight Town. I guess she messed up a mission pretty bad the other day, and it's been bugging her. We went up to the clock tower afterwards. She said me and her are different- which is pretty obvious if you look at us, but I don't think that's what she meant. A lot seems to be on her mind, and it's not the same as what's on mine."_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Xsirch_:_ Why do we try?

"_I think Xion might be mad at me, but I don't know why. Axel says girls are complicated. You can't press the wrong buttons. Like I'm supposed to know what the right ones are." _** (See? You CAN learn from video games!)**

"_It's hard spending time with Xion, and Axel seems busy, too. I've been having ice cream alone, but it's just not the same. All I taste is the salt, and my hands get all sticky. It's like I'm going through the motions of eating it just so I can throw the stick out and get on with life. I must've had about a hundred of these things, and I still haven't found another WINNER__** (Stupid Nobody… there's only one winner stick in these kinds of contests!)**__. I never did find a way to ask Xion about the pictures that go through my head. I don' t really know what to do about anything right now."_

"_On my mission at Beast's Castle, Xaldin told me about "love" and the special power it has over people. I tried to ask Axel about it, but his explanation didn't make any sense to me. Every time I ask him about this kind of thing, he tells me I need a heart to understand. It's like he's dodging the questions."_

"_Xion failed her mission and now she's in a deep sleep. I thought they were lying to me when they told me, but I went to see her, and she really was asleep. I left a seashell by her pillow, just like she did for me. Saix hates her, I don't know why. Maybe he knows more about her than the rest of us do. Those pictures flashed through my mind again on today's mission. (The same boy in red as usual.) I guess he's been to Wonderland. I'm still trying to figure out what it is I'm seeing."_

_It had been so long, _I thought as I looked over those old journal entries. I wish that I could change things. I hadn't written in my diary for months. After Xion fell asleep, I didn't know what to do. She had woken up the other day, but now… she had been in contact with the Organization faker. Axel had fought her, and dragged her back to the Organization. After that, I had stopped writing in my diary. Then Xion had gone missing again. Now, Axel was chasing her. I only hoped that she would be okay.

"Is something on your mind?" Demyx was sitting on the floor in my room, strumming his guitar. He was the other friend I had in the Organization. We weren't really close, but I occasionally hung out with him. Usually that meant that he had gotten tickets to a concert somewhere but he didn't have anyone to go with him, which would likely mean that he would get beat up. I never understood this. Demyx wasn't very strong, but with his water manipulation powers, he had the potential to be a very dangerous enemy, the par of maybe even Xaldin. However, Demyx was a pacifist. He only fought when he had to.

"Nah." I shook my head. I stood. "I'm gonna go kill some Heartless. It keeps me occupied."

"Have fun." Demyx shrugged.

I ran out into the streets of the World That Never Was. For the first time, I was glad of the rain. It matched my mood. Dismal.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Namine_:_ Merge With Him

I sat at the table, Xion sitting in front of me. We were in my White Room, in the Old Mansion in Twilight Town. Xion had come to me to find out how she could merge with Chris.

"So, what do I have to do?" She had asked.

"You have to merge with Chris." I said quietly. "However, I have to warn you beforehand… once you merge, you will no longer exist. You will disappear. Even the memories of you, because they were based off of Chris's memories of Yuffie, will disappear. I can't save you, Xion." I said sadly. "Not even a memory of you."

"I know. But this is right." Xion sighed. I felt a pang of regret that this replica was willing to do all of this, merely because Chris was the one who needed to awaken."

"YOU FOOL!" DiZ barged into the room, startling us.

"DiZ, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned. Or rather, remembering the feeling of concern. I was a Nobody with power over memory. I was in charge of re-weaving Chris's memories into him. I had a lot of them. The only ones left were the ones contained in Xion and in Xsirch.

"That fool of a replica led the Organization right to us!" DiZ spat.

At that, Xion's face went white.

"I'll fight them off." She muttered. She ran from the room before I could stop her. I raced to the balcony, and saw Xion standing in front of the gates. Across from her stood Axel, her friend.

"I always get the dirty work…"Axel sighed.

"Axel…" Xion sighed.

"Xion…" Axel replied. "…what are you gonna do?"

"I've decided that I have to go back to where I belong," Xion explained.

"Well, to be honest, I thought that was best; right from the very beginning," Axel agreed. "But, you know, it still really bugs me. Something about this just stinks!"

"It's for the good of everyone…" Xion tried to explain.

"But how do you know that?" Axel contradicted. "Everybody thinks they're right…"

"This is right," Xion pointed out.

"THEY'RE GONNA DESTROY YOU!" Axel screamed.

"Please don't hold back, Axel. Promise," Xion asked.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!" Axel screamed. "You both…think you can do WHATEVER you want… well, I'm sick of it," Axel spat. "GO ON! You just keep running… BUT I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE TO BRING YOU BACK!"

Axel then summoned one of his trademark chakrams, and was staring at Xion with a death glare. Xion and Axel's weapons collided with a metallic bang. Axel smacked Xion right in the stomach with a spinning chakram, and then Xion smacked Axel across his face with her Keyblade. More blows were exchanged, as Axel jumped and ran alongside the brick wall before pushing off and punching Xion right in the face with not his chakrams, but his own fist. Axel flipped and landed on his two feet, but Xion took opportunity of the moment and cast a Thundara spell, creating many lightning bolts to come down and strike Axel. Axel was temporarily preoccupied with the Thundara spell, and Xion took that opportunity to cast a Cura spell upon herself to recover from her wounds. The Thundara spell wore off, and Axel again charged back at Xion, eyes blazing with fury. Axel threw a chakram at Xion, but Xion ducked right under it and smacked Axel back with her Keyblade. Axel waggled a finger back towards him in a taunting pose. Xion took this as an insult and tried, against her will, to continue to fight. The waggling finger wasn't a taunt, however; he was summoning his chakram back to him, and it flew back and smacked Xion in the back. Xion fell over, dropping her Keyblade. Axel got his chakrams back and looked down at Xion, who was struggling to stand up. Xion then resummoned her Keyblade and sliced at Axel. Axel gasped in surprise, and he dropped both his chakrams. Both chakrams disappeared in a mist of flame, but Axel continued to stand, although still staggering. Xion, however, fell over, knocked out by the pain. Axel slowly turned around and picked up Xion in a bridal style. Axel summoned a dark portal, and he staggered through it.

_Oh, Xion, Xion, Xion… _I thought tearfully. _I hope you will be all right._


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Axel_:_ Set Her Free

I had been sent to find Xion. She had escaped again. She knew, after I beat her in battle the last time we fought, that she was a match for me. However, with Xigbar as my partner for this mission, she would be hard pressed. We were walking through the woods in Twilight Town, when we saw Xion darting away. Xigbar fired at her with his arrowguns, and Xion tripped on a root. Her hood fell back, and I saw-

"My god…" Xigbar gasped.

Xion looked like a boy with spiky gold hair. On her arm was a plate of armor, and her keyblade looked different.

"Ventus?" Xigbar asked.

"No… Please... If I stay…" Xion managed tearfully.

"What if you stay?" I asked. In all truth, it broke where my heart would be every time I had to drag her back here. No more.

"Xsirch... Will die." She said tearfully.

"Why is it that when I look at you…I see HIM?" Xigbar demanded.

I didn't respond to him. I knew that if I wanted Xsirch to live, I had to give up Xion.

I opened a dark portal behind her.

"Go. Now." I said.

_I hope you can forgive me for this, Xsirch._ I thought. Here I stood, Xigbar gaping at me openly. I gestured at the dark portal behind Xion. Xion, flashing me a grateful look, ran into it. I closed it.

"Listen Xigbar." I said roughly. "If you say anything about me letting her escape… well God help me I'll kill you."

"Okay, okay!" Xigbar held up his hands in surrender. "I just hope you know what you are doing."

"For both our sakes… I hope I do too." I sighed.

I thought back to the diary entries that I had had glimpses of while Xion had been here.

I had first had a glimpse of Xemnas's diary. It was from the day before Xion had been indoctrinated into our group. "_A name defines an object. Describes the span of it. Gives it purpose. We embarked upon the Replica Program to ensure our new power stays ours. Now, our shadow puppet, "No. i," lives. It needs a name. Something to define it. To give the hollow vessel purpose."_

The second was Saix's entry, from right after she had been inducted: _"Xion is being monitored. Roxas, meanwhile, has begun his training exercises. It is imperative we keep Xion from having undue contact with Roxas until we are certain it will perform as expected- which will take another 10 days, if Vexen's convictions are to be trusted. As for the Keyblade Master, Marluxia will no doubt be keeping an eye on him."_

As for the last one, even Xaldin had started to have suspicions about Xion's not being one of us towards the end:"_There has to be something to what Saix said. Why isn't Xion qualified to be one of us? He said to just look at her, but at what? The fact that she looks like Namine? Xion and Namine must be connected. Who's Nobody is Xion anyway? What is Saix hiding?"_

After I arrived back at the Castle, I went right to sleep. When I woke up, Saix was standing there.

"Why did you do this?" he asked. "Do you really think that you could be friends with her? A replica? She is even less real then we are. Which would you rather suffer the loss of: Some make-believe friendship? Or a real one?"

"Fuck off." I said. I kicked Saix out of my room. After my mission, which was to set up some weird contraption in Halloween Town, I came home to my room. I wrote in my diary. I read a few previous entries. Three in particular.

The first was the first time I met Xsirch

"_Seems like we're getting new members everyday. No. XIII was a boy, Xsirch. Now we've got a No. XIV, Xion. Today's mission was to show Xsirch the ropes. I feel like they've had me babysitting him since he got here. He's not a bad kid, but he's spacey. Good fighter, though. At least I won't be bored."_

The next one was when I met Xion and Xsirch for ice cream the first time.

"_Honestly, I never got why Xsirch was so crazy about Xion. I know they both joined up around the same time, and they're both rookies, but how do you get close to somebody who hides their face all the time? Well, I saw it today. All of a sudden, No. XIV takes off... her hood. Xion is a girl and she looks just like Namine."_

The last one was the one that affected me the most.

"_Talking to Xsirch and Xion always brings back memories of my human life, back when I was a kid. It's a weird sensation. I ought to be able to share all this with Saix, but I just don't feel like it anymore. It's strange, but I'm content with just missing what's gone. I'm not the one who changed. You did."_

I went to the Grey Area, silent. After a while Xsirch came storming up to me.

"You are such a bastard." Xsirch said angrily.

"Huh?" I asked. "What did I do?"

"You knew what Xion was all along, didn't you?" Xsirch spat. "Why didn't you tell me? Why couldn't you trust me? I thought we were friends."

"Tell you about what?" I asked.

"I know about Xion!" He snapped. "I know she's a replica of Chris! I know I'm Chris's nobody! I know Xion was made to absorb my powers! I know that she was a tool! I know she was fake! But I STILL FUCKING LOVE HER!" he stopped, a tear on his face. "I can't take this organization anymore. I need to leave."

"What about us? We're friends; best friends," I reminded him.

"Friends! As if! You never told me what I needed to know about myself, or about Xion!" Xsirch snorted, continuing away.

"I didn't want you to be labeled as an Organization traitor!" I pleaded.

Xsirch merely flipped me the finger. "I JUST WANTED THE TRUTH, BUT I ONLY GOT EMPTY PROMISES!" He yelled, and then sprinted from the room.

I slumped on the wall. I lost both of my friends in the same day.

Later when I arrived at my room, I found an envelope there. I opened it up. Inside was a Popsicle stick. On the stick, it said "Winner."

_Hmph… Some win this is._

I found another note by my bed. This one from Xion.\

_I know everything now. I was born at Castle Oblivion. I was introduced as Number XIV. But I was truly created by Vexen as a mere Replica; a puppet to be toyed with until I break. And I truly did break, all right. Not once, but several times. First I fought against the Organization faker, and I lost. Then I began collapsing and having weird dreams. And now…it's coming to an end_. _I will not stand for Xemnas's ploy for Kingdom Hearts to succeed. I asked why I felt so strange all the time; no one explained it. I asked why I could wield the Keyblade; Saix dismissed it as a simple 'need-to-know' basis that didn't fall under what I needed to know. But I DO need to know. I need to know everything about me. I want to know who I am. And sometimes I felt I would collapse like a stack of paper under the pressure of it all…but there were two people who helped me, even to my final days as a member of this dreaded and forsaken Organization. You and Xsirch. You came to my rescue when I forgot to use the Keyblade. Xsirch spent his time working alongside me so I could remember how to use the Keyblade. I do remember what happened the day after I was brought back; Xsirch was mad at you for attacking me. He's so sweet; I never expected him to care about me like that. After all, he's a bit rough around the edges, but I guess I am too. I remember Xsirch telling me that we're both special Nobodies, as Xigbar called it. On the day when the Organization pit us against each other he kissed me._ _I know what I must do, but it's so tragic for me…but I think Xsirch would suffer worse if I do not do this._ _This is something I have to do. So Axel, please forgive me. Tell Xsirch… I'm sorry._

_Oh, Xion_. I thought. For the first time in my half-life as a nobody, I felt a tear fall from my cheek.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Xsirch: Escape

I had made it past Twilight's View and had successfully bashed through an ambush waiting for me in Nothing's Call. Crooked Ascension was only a step away from the lower interior of the Organization's castle, but I had never expected to come across a Berserker here. I jumped into the air and tried to slice at the Berserker. The Berserk swung his hammer in front of my Keyblade, absorbing and nullifying most of the damage. Some of my dark Keyblade still hit the Berserker's flesh, damaging the Nobody. The Berserker then shrunk to a miniscule size, and his hammer began slamming into the ground towards me at great speeds. I, however, anticipated this, and dodged out of the way. When the Berserker returned to normal size, I again charged at the Berserker to try cutting it down to size. This time, Last Chaos made contact with its flesh and tore right through it, ending the Nobody's misery in one blow. I turned around and walked down some stairs into a corridor.

"_The Hall Of Empty Melodies…" _I thought, as I entered said hall through the corridor. I walked quietly, trying to avoid detection. When I walked upon the square, however, the straight pathway leading to my continued path disappeared. Looking behind me in surprise, I also saw the path behind me had disappeared too.

…_uh-oh… _I thought. _Shit. _At that moment, a dark portal opened up on the other side of the square of the hall. Saix stared blankly at me.

"Don't you know, Xsirch?" Saix said. He summoned his weapon, a large claymore. "Once you enter the Organization… You can't leave."

"Out of my way, Saix." I growled.

Clash after clash of clanging weaponry was heard throughout the hearing distance of the castle. Saix's claymore was bashing against my dual Soul Eaters. Saix then jumped up into the air, claymore in hand.

"Moon shine down!" Saix bellowed, and in that instant, Saix began glowing an electrical blue. I dodged Saix's charge, ending up behind him. Turning around to strike at me again, Saix was greeted by a jolt of lightning from above.

"Thundaga magic? You honestly think that can stop me?" Saix mocked. Saix charged at me again, but I just stood there, face blank. I dodged at the last second, sending Saix into the dark portal that I had concealed behind my back.

"See ya." I said sarcastically, as Saix emerged into Atlantica. Saix emerged a moment later, face bloodied from running into the wall that the dark portal released him right in front of.

"…Very good…effort, Xsirch…" Saix complimented.

I just scowled. "You don't compliment people. What are you planning?"

Saix then smiled evilly. "You are smarter than I thought, Xsir-!" Saix never finished that, as he was hit with another Thundaga spell. As Saix was stumbling to get back up, he was hit by another slit me, created a dark portal behind me, back flipped into it, and popped out right next to Saix in midair, kicking him in the ribcage with such a force that a loud crack was heard.

_I think I broke his rib_.

As Saix grunted in pain, I unleashed more slashing combo attacks on him, before firing a barrage of Dark Firagas at Saix. Saix couldn't take any wasn't even sweating.

"Saix… You suck." I said. I stepped into my dark portal, and emerged in The World That Never Was.

As I walked down its empty streets, I saw a figure leaning on a building. Axel.

"Your mind's made up?" he asked quietly.

"Why did the keyblade choose me?" I asked in response. "I need to know."

"You can't turn on the Organization!" he said angrily. "If you get on their bad side, they'll destroy you!"

"No one would miss me." I said. I started to walk away.

"That's not true…" Axel said sadly. "I would."

I merely opened a dark portal to Twilight Town, and stepped through.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Xsirch: Xion

I sat on top of the clock tower. I had wandered the area for a good, long while.

_Where did I think I could go?_ I sighed.

I felt, rather then heard, someone come up to the clock tower and sit beside me. Xion had her hood up, and she was eating an ice cream bar. She handed me one in silence. I took it in equal silence. We sat there for a long time, watching the sunset. Suddenly, Xion started speaking.

"I hope you can forgive me for leaving you, Xsirch."

"Forgive you? If I were in your position, I would have done the same. You don't need to apologize."

"But I do, Xsirch." She said. "You and I are connected." Xion stood up. "I was made by Xemnas to absorb your powers. I ended up absorbing your memory as well. I was meant to merge with you, and become the real Chris."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Xion stood there, framed against the sunset. It reminded me of the first day I met her, with her hood covering her face.

"You have poured so many memories into me, given me so much that I feel as if I'm about to overflow. Look at me, Xsirch. Who do you see? If you see a face… a boy's face, then that means that the process is almost complete." Xion flipped down her hood. Instead of her normal face, there was the face of a young man, a teenager, really, with black hair, and rugged features.

Xion lifted her hand to forestall my reply. She was suddenly encompassed by a wave of blackness, as was I.

"Don't you see, Xsirch? I have to make you part of me too."

I appeared in Wonderland.

Xion stood before me, in her normal form. Suddenly, she _changed._** (Cue song "Carousel" by Linkin Park) **

Xion was now a strange type of variation on a Dusk. However, she moved like a normal person, and she wielded some type of spear-like weapon. She kept thrusting it at me. I nimbly dodged back.

_What… this can't be happening…_ I thought. However, Xion's desperate attacks left me with no room for debate.

"Xion!" I yelled. "I don't want to fight you!"

Xion ignored me. She lashed out with her spear again, hitting me in the side. The pain snapped me.

_All right, FINE!_ I said mentally. I summoned Last Chaos.

I parried Xion's next blow, and countered. My blade skimmed past her. Xion spun her spear at me. I spun, my keyblade clanging off of her spear. Xion pushed me back, swinging her weapon in a deadly circle. I dodged her attack. We met in a clash. I summoned my twin Soul Eater sword. I leapt over her head, spinning in a circle, bringing my left handed blade around in a backhand slash. While still spinning, I traded my swords for my keyblade. Xion thrust, parrying the expected strike. The strike never came. I sprang from a dark portal behind Xion, and slammed my blade in her shoulder.

Another wave of darkness covered us. This time, Xion had four swords and four arms, and we were in Halloween Town.

I slammed Xion with a powerful slash attack, sending Xion flying. Xion growled, before charging again. I got Last Chaos ready, as Xion sliced downwards at me. Xion began slashing rapidly, but I continued blocking using Last Chaos. Xion and I collided with our respective weapons again. Suddenly, I unleashed a ball of Dark Energy, which slammed Xion in her chest. A wave of darkness covered us again.

We emerged in Twilight Town. We were far above the building tops, standing on what appeared to be glass. Xion stood there, in her normal, human, female form.

Xion summoned her keyblade, First Order.

I summoned my own keyblade, Last Chaos.

"First comes Order…" I said, realizing that for the first time, "… Last comes Chaos."

I and Xion clashed blade for blade and slice for slice. I jumped into the air and spun around each individual energy orb that Xion was firing, until making contact with Xion's face. However, Xion merely slid under my assault, and took no delay in jumping over me and beginning to slash at me while I was down. I managed to block one attack with Last Chaos, but Xion knocked it out of my hands as soon as I brought it up. I spun on the ground, tripping Xion and sliding out from under her **(sounds very suggestive…)**. I resummoned Last Chaos and healed myself from the wounds I had received.

Xion stood up, shooting a large column of light at me. I rolled out of the way in a diagonal angle that put me next to a surprised Xion. Xion encased herself in a wall of light. I waited for her to emerge. Soon enough, Xion came out ready to strike; I had expected this, but then Xion jumped up and fired many powerful fire spells at me.

"Why don't you quit!" I shouted, grasping Last Chaos and again charging at Xion. Xion casted a Reflect spell on herself. I was blown back, with a large slash of my own making on my chest. I quickly cast a cure spell. Then I just stood there, using my dark power to deflect Xion, until I heard her voice again.

Xion's voice.

"Is it that I'm not supposed to exist?" Xion's voice asked.

In that exact moment, I unleashed a powerful burst of light mixed with darkness, knocking Xion backwards and making her slam on the ground.

I got Last Chaos and charged at Xion. Xion got ready to deflect the attack, until I moved my index finger slightly. Xion, confused by this, suddenly realized what I was doing. But she was too late. My Dark Firaga slammed into her back. While she was stunned by this, I rammed my blade into her.

The glass under us shattered. We fell, landing right in front of our clock tower.

Something in my mind _changed._ I Just couldn't remember what it was.

"Who are you...again? It's weird; I feel like I'm forgetting something important," I said, as I walked up to Xion.

"You'll be...better off now...Xsirch..." Xion smiled. Xion sighed, before falling over. Xion almost collapsed into the ground, but I grabbed Xion before that could happen. Xion began fading away, with parts of her lightly separating from her body in shards of light

"Am I...the one who did this to you?" I wondered sadly.

"No...It was my choice...to go away now..." Xion sighed, now smiling a bit. "I belong with Chris..." Xion said in a pained tone. "Better that...than to do nothing...and let Xemnas have his way... Xsirch…I need you…to do me a favor…" Xion's voice asked in a hoarse whisper. She seemed to be fading away, as traces of her body were leaving her, disappearing into the air. Her legs were frozen solid, and the ice was inching up her legs, onto her cloak, and was getting closer to the rest of her body. I her hand in mine, and I was holding her up with my other hand. Xion's eyes shut in pain for a moment, and then they opened again, staring directly into my eyes.

"All those hearts I've captured…" Xion began, her voice becoming hoarser every passing moment. "…Kingdom Hearts…set them free…"

I looked down at her in confusion. "Kingdom Hearts…free them?" I asked. The ice then advanced up Xion's body, covering her legs up to her stomach. She winced in pain, and the wisps of light coming out of her began to increase.

"It is too late…for me to undo my mistakes…" she started, now close to tears. "…but you can't…let Xemnas have Kingdom Hearts…you can't…"

I just stared down at the girl I was holding; the girl I was such close friends with for nearly a year. A year that had gone by too fast…

"…good-bye…Xsirch…" Xion sadly stated. This got my attention, and I felt nearly close to tears. "I'm glad…to have met you…oh…and Axel, too…you're both my best friends…"

The ice was now at her chest area, and was advancing closer and closer to her neck. She reached up one arm that was not covered in ice yet, and lightly touched my cheek with it, holding my face in one hand. "…never forget…that's the truth…"

These were Xion's final words, as the ice got up to her neck and began to drift down her arms. Her hand that was on my face began to fall, and I grabbed it with my spare hand.

"NO!" I began, trying to deny the fact that my closest friend was disappearing. "Xion…who else will I have ice cream with?" **(I felt obliged to put this line in. It kills the mood, but it kinda shows his desperation for Xion)**

Xion closed her eyes after one last look at me, before the ice covered her face. Her body began glowing radiantly, and the rest of her body evaporated into small light shards that disappeared quickly. I looked up as I saw the fragments of my friend disappear into the sunset sky. Looking back down, I saw one thing left of my friend: a seashell. Picking it up, I remembered that it was the same seashell I had given Xion when she had awoken from what I assumed was a deep coma. I then shed a tear for my fallen friend.

I opened a furtive portal. I stepped out, and emerged into the Station of Awakening, the station which I had fought for. There was the fountain of liquid light, and the door into the Organizations Castle. I walked to the center of the station, where two keyblades were slammed into the floor. I looked at my own keyblade. I felt it dematerialize. I gripped each of the two keyblades slammed into the floor and pulled them out. One was a simple black key. The other was a simple white key. Inscribed on the shaft of the key in glowing red letters were their names. The black one was called "Chaos." The white one was called "Order." The other side to my keyblade and Xion's.

I swung the keyblades in a fit of rage. They bit deeply into the door to the castle, destroying it in a flash of light.

Satisfied with my weapons, I opened another portal, the last one I hoped ever to open.

It was almost time.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: David Frostmourne: Xsirch

I stood on top of the skyscraper. Below me, I saw a black coated figure walk into the square in front of Memory's Skyscraper.

Around him, hundreds of puddles of darkness appeared around him. In each puddle, a pair of yellow eyes appeared. A figure rose from each of the puddles of darkness: Neoshadows. Hundreds of them.

The figure inside the ring of Heartless suddenly drew two keyblades. One of the keyblades was black, bat wings furling up to end at a semicircle of black spikes. The other keyblade was white, angel wings furling up to a snowflake pattern. The figure spun them in the air, and gripped them tightly.

Then the first Neoshadow struck. The figure ducked under its blow, and lashed out with its keyblade. One down. Another ran at him from behind. He leapt over its head. Two down. When he was in midair, another came for him from above, having leapt from the top of a nearby skyscraper. He hurled his keyblade upwards and killed it. Three down. He landed, and caught his keyblade. The rest of the Neoshadows hesitated noticeably. I detected a thin, mirthless smile from beneath the hood obscuring the face of the figure. Then they charged.

A Neoshadow attempted to strike from behind. The man lashed out with his white keyblade in a feint. The Neoshadow leapt into midair. The figure decapitated the heartless with its black keyblade. He spun to meet another attack, and killed two more heartless. He leapt again, and two more heartless came down in consecutive blows. Six down. One more attempted, and was run through for its trouble. The figure moved with grace, slaying heartless left and right, not pausing, moving with the grace and fluidity of a dancer. Then he sensed me.

He leapt over another heartless, killing it as well. He ran up the side of the skyscraper as if it was horizontal ground, slaying heartless that attempted to murder him on his way up. He then hurled his black keyblade up towards me in a sawing motion. I leapt.

On my way down the skyscraper in a freefall, I grabbed the thrown keyblade. I passed right by the running figure. As I glimpsed under his hood, I saw a glimpse of someone who I knew well.

Chris.

I landed on the ground in the same instant as the figure. We landed back to back. I lifted my hand, and a line of white light shaped like a heart appeared around us for a minute. Then our keyblades flashed in unison. Instantly, all the heartless surrounding us evaporated into darkness. Dead. Then we leapt back from each other.

The figure slashed at me. I and Xsirch landed on separate sides of the plaza, before we both charged at each other. Our Keyblades clashed in the center of the plaza, with neither one of us giving in. We jumped back. I jumped backwards as I missed one slice from Xsirch, before I used my stolen Keyblade to defend against another attack. Xsirch tried to slash downwards at me with his Order, but I slammed Chaos downwards into Order, getting it stuck in the ground. Xsirch tried to pull it free, but I kept his grip on my own blade, keeping Order stuck in the ground as I did so. Xsirch then jumped into the air, with his keyblade, and fell behind me. While I was stunned, Xsirch tried to cut at me, but I jumped into the air. Xsirch defended himself by blocking my attack and sending me higher into the air, before he jumped into the air as well. I ended up upside-down as I saw Xsirch charge at me again.

"We've got to stop meeting like this." I growled. Xsirch merely made an angry noise.

Xsirch then pushed me to the ground, but I got my footing quickly, with no scratches on me. Xsirch dropped down quickly and slashed at me, but I jumped backwards, making the attack useless. Xsirch flew forwards, spinning his Keyblade like a saw, making me continue to give ground. Xsirch then sliced his Order under my guard. It caught me in the stomach. Miraculously, it didn't break my cloak, but in knocked me over, and I was on the floor.

"Why! Why do you have the Keyblade!" I shouted. Xsirch, with his dark hood up, just gripped his Keyblade tighter.

"Shut up!" he shouted, bringing down the Order Keyblade to knock me out.

I flipped up and shot around as fast as I could, blocking Xsirch's shot and sending him flying backwards while doing so. Xsirch slammed into the ground, and he barely saw me get up and begin walking over to him before he lost consciousness. I walked over to him, and, carefully positioning the Chaos Keyblade I held, threw it directly into the concrete next to where Xsirch lay. The heavy rainfall from above continued to pour down upon us, with the only sounds being the crackling of the neon lights. I gasped as I heard a moaning from Xsirch, and I took a small step backwards as Xsirch got a hold on his Chaos Keyblade and sliced at me. I jumped backwards, avoiding the near-fatal slash, before Xsirch charged desperately at me. I, in defense, fired a dark fireball at Xsirch, but Xsirch merely countered it with his own Dark Firaga. I barely missed another downwards slash from Xsirch, and Xsirch turned around to face me.

"Why don't you quit!" Xsirch shouted. I stood there, silent, before speaking up.

"Come on Chris. I thought you were stronger than that," I taunted. Xsirch appeared surprised, before going back to his retorting attitude.

"Get real! Look which one of us is winning!" Xsirch countered, before gasping and holding up his left hand to his mouth. "_Why did I just say that...?" _he muttered.

"So it's true. You really are his Nobody. Guess DiZ was right after all..." I sighed. Xsirch just gripped his hand in anger, before shouting.

"What are you talking about!" Xsirch shouted. "I am me!"

Xsirch then summoned in his left hand his Order Keyblade. "NOBODY ELSE!" Xsirch shouted, before charging at me again. Xsirch jumped into the air and did a downwards slash in the form of an "X," which I dodged. However, Xsirch used his momentum to turn around and slice at me again; this would've knocked me out, had I not put up a dark shield at the last second, which absorbed the attack. The power from the blow made me fall to my knees, holding myself up by my one hand. In my mind, I heard Xion's uneasy and obviously worried voice.

"_Frostmourne, please! You have to stop him!" _Xion pleaded.

"_He'll die if this keeps up..." _I realized in that instant. I knew that Xsirch, in his current state, wouldn't last against Organization XIII. I then slowly got up, much to Xsirch's chagrin.

"How many times do I have to beat you!" Xsirch shouted.

"All right...you've left me with no other choice..." I groaned, getting myself mentally prepared for what I was about to do.

"What?" Xsirch asked, confused. I just reached my hand for my blindfold.

"I have to release the power in my heart-the dark power that I've been holding back," I said softly, removing the black headband from my eyes. "Even...if it changes me forever!"

I then screamed out in frustration, as a dark orb surrounded me, shooting dark columns into the sky as it did so. Xsirch got both his Keyblades ready, prepared to take down whatever appeared out of the dark orb. However, I emerged from the dark orb with my thrashing dark tentacles, which stunned Xsirch. I appeared right in front of Xsirch instantly. My dark tentacles stretched its lengthy arms out and crushed Xsirch's chest while lifting him into the air. Xsirch moaned out in pain several times, before dropping both his Keyblades to the concrete ground. They both disappeared before they even settled on the ground. Xsirch began drifting out of consciousness at that moment, while I uttered four words in complete determination.

"I have accepted it."

Several minutes passed after this battle finished. My dark tentacles were gone, I having dismissed them with my dark powers. I looked down at the unconscious Xsirch, before a dark portal opened up behind me. I pulled up my hood, covering my face from DiZ. DiZ looked at the unconscious Xsirch, silent.

"DiZ," I began. "He could feel Chris."

"Oh, he told you how he felt, did he?" DiZ retorted. "Ridiculous. A Nobody cannot feel emotion."

"If he had met Chris, things might have been different," I pointed out. Xsirch just lay there, unconscious, as I and DiZ picked him up and dragged him into the dark portal.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Xsirch: Last Words

As I drifted in the black void of unconsciousness, I realized something. In seven days, my one-year anniversary of induction to the Organization would happen.

"...guess that's it for me..." I thought

Nothing in sight. Nothing. How that one word just seemed to echo within me. Even my memories of Xion were almost gone. I could barely remember her. I only remembered that I loved her. And that she had charged me with the freedom of Kingdom Hearts.

I heard a voice. Xion.

_Xsirch. Don't be sad._

_I came from you and Chris._

_I am you._

_The same way that I am Chris._

_You'll forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away._

_Memories of you and me will always be together._

_Forever, inside him..._


	25. SECRET ENDING

SECRET ENDING:

I awoke in a small room. I thought I heard someone call my name

"Hey Xsirch!" Hayner called. "Come on, get your ass in gear! We're gonna hit the beach today even if it kills us!"

I flipped out of my bed. I put on a black T-Shirt, a black jacket, and pulled on a pair of blue jeans. I also hooked my chain into my belt.

"Coming!" I called. I paused for a moment. Something seemed missing,

_Oh well. Time for that later_ I thought. I ran out the door trying to catch my friends.

"_Maybe today… we can finally hit the beach._" I thought happily.

I ran with my friends through Twilight Town.

** okay, this whole story seems very rushed to me, but thats my perspective as the author, so correct me if I'm wrong. Keep an eye out for its sequal in the sieries: Kingdom Hearts Sound of the Rising Storm**


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